Friday, August 23, 2013

Ayala Land board approves additional fund infusion for affordable housing arm


MANILA - Ayala Land Inc (ALI) has moved to beef up the capital of its affordable housing subsidiary to fund its land banking initiatives.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ALI said its board approved the additional P1.1 billion capitalization of Avida Land Corp to complete its funding requirement of P5.4 billion for the year. ALI previously approved the equity infusion of P2.3 billion and P2 billion in 2011 and 2012, respectively.

"Proceeds of this funding exercise will be utilized for various land acquisitions in key growth centers," ALI said.

Avida, together with upper-mid brand Alveo Land, are set to debut in the debt market next month, raising P3 billion each from the sale of retail bonds to support their respective capital expenditure programs.

Avida and Alveo's retail bond offering will follow the first tranche of ALI's P21-billion fundraising. The listed real estate firm raised P15 billion from the sale of 10-year bonds with a coupon rate of 5 percent.

ALI this year earmarked P65.5 billion for its capital expenditures, P46 billion of which will bankroll the completion of ongoing projects. It will also launch 69 new projects with a combined value of P129 billion.

The company is on the penultimate year of its 5-10-15 plan, launched in 2009 with the world economy still reeling from the effects of the global financial crisis. Under the five-year plan ending 2014, the real estate firm aims to have a net income of P10 billion and a return on equity of 15 percent.

The real estate giant said net earnings jumped 30 percent to P5.62 billion in the first half from P4.33 billion in the same period last year. Consolidated revenues rose by more than a third to P36.63 billion at end-June from P27 billion in the same period last year.

source: interaksyon.com