Filinvest Land plans to raise P5 billion

Written by Miguel Camus / Reporter

THE listed real-estate development unit of the Gotianun family bared its plan on Wednesday to tap the debt market and raise up to P5 billion to cover part of the company’s remaining spending requirements this year until 2010. In a disclosure to the local stock exchange, Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) said it will issue and float through a public offering three and five years fixed-rate debt securities. “Proceeds of the issue will be used by FLI to finance its capital requirements in 2009 and 2010,” said the developer in a statement. The issue date, which is still subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission, is slated for the last quarter of this year. Company officials could not be reached for additional details. This year, FLI has allotted P5.3 billion to fund new and ongoing projects. the company is targeting to launch 29 new projects and phases estimated to be worth P7.4 billion in terms of sales value. Among the developments to be launched is FLI’s first high-rise project, The Linear, in Makati City. The 23-story structure is expected to break ground before the end-2009. FLI said it succeeded in launching 11 of these projects in the January-to-June period, hitting 43 percent of the full-year sales target. Earlier, the company said profits in the first semester rose 6 percent to P759 million on sustained interest for affordable and mass housing projects. Revenues likewise increased by 11 percent 2.47 billion, buoyed by an 11-percent increase in real-estate sales, which account for the bulk of total revenues. In addition, FLI attributed growth to the increase in rental rates for its office and retail leasing business. Rental income from Festival Supermall, PBCom Tower and Northgate and Cyberzone in Alabang contributed 24 percent to total revenues, the firm said. Meanwhile, FLI’s total office building portfolio stood at over 132,000 square meters as of June, with an average takeup rate of 90 percent. The real-estate company also said its medium-rise building developments, continue to generate interest for the firm. Projects under this line are mostly inner-city cluster condominiums, targeting those who work in Metro Manila but live outside the capital such as in Laguna and Cavite. FLI currently has four medium-rise buildings—One Oasis Ortigas, located on Ortigas Avenue Extension in Pasig; Bali Oasis Marcos Highway, also in Pasig City; One Oasis Davao; and One Oasis Cebu. To be added soon is One Oasis Santa Mesa in Manila City.