Ayala mulls building new business park within Cebu

CEBU, Philippines - Ayala Land Inc., affiliate Cebu Holdings Inc. (CHI), is now looking at introducing another business park development within the Cebu City area to optimize the high performance  of real estate investments in Cebu.

During yesterday's CHI stockholders’ meeting, Ayala Land Inc. president Antonino Aquino announced that CHI is going to declare within this year its development of third district to add to the existing 50-hectare Cebu Business Park (CBP) and 27-hectare Cebu IT Park, which are currently called as the Cebu Park District when combined.

According to Aquino, negotiations for acquisition are currently underway to increase their existing land bank.

"We continue to look for strategic properties which will expand our portfolio, as well as complement our existing development," said Aquino.

Although Aquino did not divulge concrete information about the plan, he said the South Road Properties (SRP) is one of the areas being considered.

This year, CHI will be spending an estimated P3.4 billion in new and existing projects and land acquisition. Together with its parent company Ayala Land, it will be investing an estimated total of P5.4 billion for new developments.

Aside from building another business district, the company also announced to build another horizontal residential project to complement its existing Amara upscale subdivision, as well as build another shopping mall at the Cebu IT Park.

CHI president Francis O. Monera reported to the company's shareholders yesterday the firm's high performance last year with net income of P441 million. 

CHI's revenues were also at its highest yet at P1.6 billion, a 13 percent increase from previous year.

"This is largely composed of leasing business at 58 percent and real estate  at 22 percent. Other contributors to revenue are theatre income, interest and other income, and equity earnings from affiliates. With this mix, more than half of CHI’s revenues are composed of recurring income, providing a stable source of revenue for the company and its future," Monera said in this speech.

Monera further reported that in the last two years, build-up reached about 245,000 square meters of gross floor area, almost approximating the total build-up of 333,000 square meters within more than 20 years since the company started 25 years ago.

In 2013, the company will be completing the full circle expansion of the mall.

"We have also started construction of our BPO building within Cebu Business Park. This effectively builds up our leasing portfolio as we increase recurring income to generate capital for even bigger development opportunities in the next few years,” Monera said.

CHI is the holding company of Cebu Property Ventures Development Corporation (CPVDC), the developer of Cebu IT Park.

"As we move towards our 25th year as a catalyst in the Cebu economy, the company is poised at taking a faster, bolder and more aggressive stance parallel to the thriving Cebu economy and even beyond," Monera concluded. /JMD (FREEMAN)