Philippines News Archives

Friday, April 20, 2001

AC ( 04/20/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp aims to establish a regional presence, with the focus on
the property business, through unit Ayala International Holdings Ltd
(AIHL), company president Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala told
shareholders at the company's AGM today. "We remain keen to
develop an Ayala with a regional presence and these moves continue
on the path to expansion," Zobel de Ayala said. As a prelude to its
plans, Ayala Corp last year transferred the real estate investments of
Ayala International Pte Ltd to the Singapore-listed AIHL, Zobel de
Ayala said. AIHL will be Ayala Corp's main vehicle for property
investments overseas, he said. He said the company was able to
focus on strategic property investments in Hong Kong, Japan and
Singapore last year. Due to the difficult economic conditions early this
year, Zobel de Ayala said AIHL has shelved some planned overseas
investments. But he added: "There is a desire on our part to continue
that expansion and fund projects as these come up."
- posted by StockMarket @ 9:05 PM

AC ( 04/20/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corporation is studying a possible securitisation of receivables
due from units Ayala Land Inc and Bank of the Philippine Islands,
Ayala Corp president Jaime Augusto Zobel de Ayala said. "It's
something being very actively looked at, both the Ayala Land and the
BPI level," Zobel de Ayala told shareholders at the company's AGM.
Ayala Corp's receivables stood at 11.066 B pesos at the end of 2000,
with the bulk coming from the two units. Zobel de Ayala said the
company is also open to tapping the capital markets to raise additional
funds for the year, but he provided no details.
- posted by StockMarket @ 9:05 PM

AC ( 04/20/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corporation expects a flat net profit for the first quarter of the
year, but sees its full-year net profit coming in better than the
year-ago 3.15 B pesos because of improving economic activity
following the change in government, Ayala Corp president Jaime
Augusto Zobel de Ayala said. "At this point in time it's safe to say that
it will be the same as last year," Ayala told reporters when queried
about his forecast for the company's first quarter performance. "But
we do see this year as a better year. I'm confident that our results this
year will be better than last year." Ayala said some of the company's
core businesses had begun showing encouraging signs, such as
Ayala Land Inc which registered a pick-up in property sales and Bank
of the Philippine Islands which recorded modest loan growth. "While
business conditions remain difficult over the short term ... we are
preparing ourselves for an economic upswing," he said. Ayala said
the Ayala Group had earmarked capital expenditure this year of 47 B
pesos to position itself for the expansion in the economy. Last year,
group-wide capex was 25 B pesos. But he did not give details on
how the group intends to raise the needed funds. The bulk of the
capex, or about 37 B pesos, will be spent on Globe Telecom's
network expansion. Another 2.6 B will be used for Ayala Land's
ongoing projects, while 4.0 B pesos will go to Ayala Corp. 1.5 B
pesos has also been budgeted for Pure Foods, but officials said this
had been put on hold due to ongoing acquisition talks with San Miguel
Corp. Ayala said Ayala Corp is open to the possibility of strategic
partnerships. "We have an open mind for partnerships ... but at this
point in time we are not willing to make announcements," he said.
Ayala Corp managing director Rufino Luis Manotok said the company
is also open to financing offers. The company has maturing debt of
200 M usd in the latter part of the year, he said. "If there are offers for
financing which would allow us to lengthen our maturities and reduce
our cost then it is something we will consider," he said.

- posted by StockMarket @ 9:04 PM

Wednesday, April 18, 2001

AC ( 04/18/2001 : MT )
The Ayala Group is bent on keeping its stake in Philking Restaurants
Development Corp. (Philking) but indicated that new developments
may crop up after the completion of the transaction with San Miguel
Corp. (SMC). Philking is the local franchise holder of Burger King Corp.
Ayala Corp. owns a 49.5-percent stake in the company while
US-based RYLLC controls a 45-percent stake. The remaining
5.5-percent stake is owned by ELRO Commercial and Industrial Corp.
of businessman Francisco Elizalde. Delfin L. Lazaro, director of Pure
Foods Corp. and consultant for the SMC transaction, said Philking is
not yet for sale but disclosed that the company would be slowing
down its investments this year. “We have to wait until the transaction
with SMC is completed and carved out. That’s the only time that we
will have to determine what to do with the company (Philking),” Lazaro
said in an interview. Philking was excluded in the SMC acquisition plan
of Pure Foods as per SMC’s request. “SMC requested that it’ll be
excluded because it do not want to be in a competitive position
relative to other quick service restaurants (QSRs) whom they are
supplying with their own products. They wanted to protect that
supplier relationship with these QSRs,” Lazaro explained. He said the
Ayala Group has not yet received offers from other companies to buy
Philking. Philking currently operates 39 Burger King QSRs in Metro
Manila and nearby provinces Laguna and Bulacan. A significant
player in the growing eat-out market, Burger King posted a 43-percent
growth in terms of sales from the previous year. This year, however,
Philking is planning to slow down its investments given some
weakness in the market of QSRs. “I think they still have plans to
develop a few more restaurants for the year, but again everything
has to be reviewed given this change. I think the plans were adjusted
whether the market would recover or not,” Renato R. Montemayor,
president of Pure Foods, said. Despite the slowdown, he said Philking
is still on target. It has just opened two new stores this year.
- posted by StockMarket @ 9:05 PM

Tuesday, April 17, 2001

AC ( 04/17/2001 : BW )
Local conglomerate Ayala Corp. is now moving to the northern part of
Asia after investing in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan and Malaysia in
the last two years. A well-placed source told BusinessWorld that the
company, under wholly owned Ayala International Holdings Ltd.
(AIHL), is in the process of looking at possible investments in North
Asia, which will be the group's focus this year under its global
expansion plans. Consistent with its previous investments in other
Asian countries, the source said the conglomerate will be
concentrating on property and retail businesses. Ayala Corp. said it
intends to expand its financial and management resources through
partnerships. It has already formed a $20-M joint venture with
long-time partners Grosvenor Ltd. and Uni-Asia Finance Corp. as part
of its expansion plan. The joint venture initially aimed to pursue
property investments in Tokyo and establish a presence in the
Asia-Pacific region. Ayala Corp. has also concluded a tie-up with two
Hong Kong-based property firms, Bondex Holdings Ltd. and Westrata
Property Development Ltd. The partnership seeks to develop a
high-end residential apartment in Repulse Bay where it invested over
5.8 M Singapore dollars. Meanwhile, the company said another
subsidiary, Ayala International Pte Ltd. (AIPL), will continue to handle
the group's planned investments in both private equity and venture
capital outside the country. The subsidiary will pursue these projects
either through investments in joint venture with partners or take major
stakes on its own. Ayala Corp. said it also plans to generate
fee-based income from fund and asset management and look at
Singapore for lower cost financing opportunities for its operations in
the Philippines. AIPL holds the Ayala group's interests in real estate
activities abroad. In 1999, the group transferred the business to AIHL,
which is listed in the Singapore Stock Exchange. The transfer was
part of a two-stage restructuring program completed by AIHL last
year. It also included the divestment of its non-core assets. "AIHL also
took the opportunity of strengthening existing relationships and
cultivating new ones in its parallel efforts to multiply its financial and
management resources," the company said. AIHL currently has
investments in the office, retail, and residential sectors in various
countries including Australia, Hong Kong, Japan, Malaysia, and
Singapore. Last year, income contribution of Ayala Corp.'s
international activities to consolidated earnings reached P 75 M
(PhP50.086=US$1), while revenues totaled PhP569 M.
- posted by StockMarket @ 9:06 PM

Monday, April 16, 2001

AC ( 04/16/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corporation is planning to expand its business into northern
Asia after venturing into businesses in Australia, Hong Kong, Japan
and Malaysia, a company source told BusinessWorld. The source said
Ayala's wholly-owned subsidiary, Ayala International Holdings Ltd,
will be in charge of possible investments in north Asia this year. The
investments are likely to be in property and retail, he said.
- posted by StockMarket @ 9:07 PM

Sunday, April 15, 2001

AC ( 04/15/2001 : AFX )
Ayala Corp unit Manila Water Co Inc posted a net profit of 122.5 M
pesos in 2000, its first year of operations, newspaper BusinessWorld
said, quoting a company report. Manila Water said its revenues in
2000 totaled 1.4 B pesos, on a customer base of 410,000 households
in the east zone of Manila. The company expects earnings to improve
this year after it was allowed to raise its rates by 0.26 pesos per
cubic meter. "Manila Water's priority programs for 2001 will continue
to focus on sustaining growth of its revenue and customer base,
strengthening its capability to fund its capital works program, and
enhancing customer and external relations," the company said.
- posted by StockMarket @ 9:07 PM

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