RLC sets record P17-B capex

MANILA, Philippines - Property firm Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) is preparing its biggest capital expenditure (capex) next year to expand its mall, hotel and office portfolio.

The property development arm of tycoon John Gokongwei is earmarking up to P17 billion for its fiscal year 2015, its president Frederick Go said during the company’s 25th listing anniversary yesterday.

“For 2015, we will continue to build more shopping centers. The other part of our capex will be for offices and hotels,” he said.

RLC already raised its capital spending to a record P16 billion in its fiscal year 2014 ending September.

Go said the planned growth in spending for next fiscal year is driven by the company’s continuing confidence in the country’s property sector.

The capex would partially be financed by fixed-rate borrowings, he said.

“Outlook for property industry remains very good. We had a great three to four year run, I think the market will be more steady at this point. I think the market will remain good,” Go said.

“We’re very bullish on the economy, we’re very bullish in consumer spending. I think they will continue to grow next year,” he added.

For 2015, RLC will be opening Robinsons shopping centers in Las Pinas, Cebu, and Antique. The property firm would also be completing the expansion of its Robinsons mall in Novaliches.

The upcoming developments will provide an 11 percent growth in the company’s current combined gross leasable area of 1.025 million square meters.

Aside from the mall developments, Go said RLC next year would also be starting four to five more shopping center projects to add to its existing portfolio of 38 malls across the country.

RLC to date is the second largest mall operator in the Philippines. The firm also has 10 office buildings, 12 hotel properties, 64 residential buildings and 34 housing subdivisions.

For its hotel portfolio, Go said RLC has 2,000 rooms at present, with the Go Hotels brand constituting the largest chunk.

Within this quarter, RLC will be opening an 82-room Summit hotel in its Robinsons Magnolia shopping center in Quezon City. Upon the completion of Robinsons Galleria Cebu by August next year, the company is also set to open a 220-room Summit hotel in Cebu after six months.

“For residential, it will depend on market conditions and market reception. We have some projects in the pipeline but that depends on timing and what the market conditions are before we decide on launching them,” Go said.