FZA resigns from all Ayala Group positions

MANILA, Philippines — Fernando Zobel de Ayala, 62, has tendered his resignation from all his key positions at the Ayala Group.

The resignation comes less than a month since Ayala Corp. first announced that Fernando was taking a leave of absence due to health reasons. This was a little more than a year since taking the helm of the holding company as CEO in April 2021, succeeding his elder brother Jaime Augusto, who remains the conglomerate’s chairman.

In separate disclosures to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) yesterday, Ayala Corp., Ayala Land Inc. (ALI), Globe Telecom Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, ACEN and Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. announced Fernando’s resignation.

Ayala Corp. said Fernando resigned as vice chairman and member of its board, president and CEO “to allow him to focus more on his recovery and health.”

“Our board will elect his replacement as director in due course,” Ayala Corp. said.

Last month, Ayala appointed veteran banker Cezar Consing as acting president and CEO.

Last Sept. 7, ALI announced that Fernando resigned as chairman of its executive committee. Jaime Augusto was eventually appointed as chairman of the executive committee and member of ALI’s personnel and compensation committee to serve the unexpired term of his brother.

Globe Telecom, for its part, said Fernando resigned as co-vice-chairman and member of its board.

Fernando also resigned as chairman and director of ACEN, and as director of BPI, IMI and Manila Water.

Known as FZA in the business community, Fernando took over the helm of Ayala as CEO in April 2021.

In that short time, he steered the conglomerate through the challenging COVID-19 pandemic and has likewise led Ayala’s move to sell some of its non-core assets to focus on its core strengths.

The sale of these non-core assets could reach $1 billion by 2023 from $420 million as of early this year.

This year, Ayala has earmarked P285 billion for its capital expenditures and investments to execute on the growth initiatives across its businesses.