Ayala Land plans P50-B fundraising in second half

AYALA LAND, INC. (ALI) plans to raise P50 billion in the second half of the year to support its growth plans, with part of the fundraising expected to start this month.

“The base case for this second half is P50 billion — 60% of that, or P30 billion, will be in a sustainability-linked financing format,” ALI Chief Finance Officer Augusto D. Bengzon said during a media briefing last week when asked about the company’s fundraising plans for the remainder of the year.

In terms of fundraising sources, Mr. Bengzon said 40% will be through the debt capital markets, 40% through bilateral facilities with banks, and 20% through a multilateral agency.

“We’ll probably see something happen this month. We’ll trigger maybe 40% in August, and then in September or October, we’ll go for another 20%. We’re going to start in August,” Mr. Bengzon said.

He said the fundraising plan is banking on prospects that the local central bank will further slash its interest rates in the second half.

“It was a conscious decision on our part to activate the term funding program in the second half on the expectation that interest rates would be coming down,” Mr. Bengzon said.

Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP) Governor Eli M. Remolona, Jr. previously said that a rate cut is still “on the table” at the Monetary Board’s next policy review on Aug. 28.

ALI previously said that it is aiming to launch P57 billion worth of property development projects in the second half, including the completion of upgrades to its malls and hotels.

ALI President and Chief Executive Officer Anna Ma. Margarita Bautista-Dy said at the same briefing that two-thirds of the planned launches will be in the premium segment, while the remaining one-third will be in the core segment.

Two-thirds will consist of horizontal projects while one-third will be vertical projects, she added.

Ms. Bautista-Dy also said that ALI is planning to launch three projects for its core business, one of which is Avida’s first project in Katipunan, Quezon City. 

“We feel we have breathing room to launch again. And that’s why in the second half, I think we’ll have three launches for (our) core (segment). One of them is our first Avida in Katipunan,” she said.

“We feel that the market is now ready and we’re ready too. Our inventory levels are now manageable. Hopefully, this will mean we can start launching new projects again in Avida,” she added.

For the first half, ALI recorded an 8% increase in net income to P14.2 billion while consolidated revenue went down by 1% to P83.1 billion on lower residential revenue.

ALI shares were last traded on Aug. 8, up by 2.82% or 75 centavos to P27.35 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave