First Holdings earmarks P30 B for 2019 capex

MANILA, Philippines — Lopez-led First Philippine Holdings Corp. is setting aside more than P30 billion for its capital expenditures this year, bulk of which will be spent for the power and real estate businesses.

“Our capex is about, on a consolidated basis, over P30 billion,” FPH president and chief operating officer Francis Giles Puno told reporters on the sidelines of the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting Friday.

“Most of it is dedicated to First Gen and Rockwell,” he said, referring to the group’s power generation business First Gen. Corp and property development unit Rockwell Land Corp.

Puno added that about P24 billion of the capex would allocated to the two companies, with each receiving about P12 billion.

The company official said a portion of the capex would also be used for its industrial park business, First Philippine Industrial Corp.

“And also we’ll have our building (Benpres), so part of that will go to the building,” Puno added.

FPH is set to begin redevelopment plans for the 48-year old Benpres building in Ortigas, which served as the headquarters for most of the Lopez Group’s companies.

“By the middle of this year we will start the demolition. The cost of redevelopment is about P8 billion, but it will be a span of over four or five years,” Puno said.

He said the company has already finalized the design of the building.

“It’s designed to be energy efficient and water resilient so that it will be consistent with our values,” Puno said.

The Benpres building opened in 1971 and served as home to 19 companies of the Lopez Group. It was formerly known as the Chronicle Building as it used to house The Manila Chronicle newspaper.

FPH earlier announced that the six-story Benpres building would redeveloped into a 40-story office tower.

Puno said while the redeveloped building would house some of the Lopez companies, about 50 percent of the building would also be leased as office space for outside tenants.

Moreover, the company official said funding for the 2019 capex would be internally generated, adding that the company does not expect any borrowings this year.

FPH, through its subsidiaries, is engaged in the power generation, real estate and construction business, among others.

In 2018, the company reported a 58 percent rise in its net income to P20.2 billion from P12.8 billion the previous year, driven by higher revenues and lower finance costs.

Revenues for the period grew 20 percent to P125.4 billion from P104.9 billion in 2017.

FPH’s subsidiaries and affiliates include, among others, First Gen Corp.; Energy Development Corp.; First Philippine Industrial Corp.; First Philippine Industrial Park; First Philippine Properties Corp.; First Philippine Realty Corp.; Rockwell Land Corp.; Philippine Electric Corp.; First Philec Inc.; First Sumiden Circuits Inc.; First Sumiden Realty Inc., under First Philippine Electric Corp.; First Balfour Inc.; and Manila Electric Co.