Stock News 2012: SMIC taps into $1-B cash pile for new investments

English: SM City Fairview in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
With a massive cash pile of around $1 billion, retail tycoon Henry Sy’s SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) is in a strong position to take advantage of any interesting opportunities that may crop up, according to a top company official.

SMIC chief finance officer Jose T. Sio said the holding firm is awash with cash, having raised P15 billion from the recent issuance of seven to 10-year fixed rate bonds. “We’re very liquid. We have like P40 billion plus in cash. Aside from that, we still have an untapped credit line,” he said.

Sio said the group has been looking for fresh uses of its huge cash reserves.

SMIC officials said they are still keen on acquiring a significant stake in the private holding firm that owns the 16-hectare Greenhills shopping complex, which would allow the SM Group to capture the lion’s share of the retail market in the fast-growing Ortigas-Pasig-Mandaluyong area.

The interest remains even as the group led by Ignacio R. Ortigas entered into a strategic alliance with property giant Ayala Land Inc., allowing the latter to participate in the development of the family’s various properties which include large residential, office, retail and hotel components

The Ortigas family exercised its right of first refusal over British banking giant HSBC’s stake in OCLP Holdings Inc. in a deal valued at P11 billion.

Meanwhile, Sio said SMIC may do another fund-raising within the year to take advantage of the country’s bright economic prospects following an upgrade to the Philippines’ sovereign credit standing to a notch below investment grade. “It would probably be a combination of equity and debt,” Sio said.

Proceeds from future cash-raising activities will be used to refinance existing obligations and for investments, Sio said.

He said SMIC sustained its growth traction in the second quarter, mainly due to the country’s strong economic fundamentals. “The second quarter is a little better than the first quarter. Traditionally, the second quarter is stronger than the first because of the summer break and the opening of schools,” he said.

Sio also disclosed that the group, through SM Prime and SM Development Corp., is in talks to buy tracts of land in various areas in China. “The property we’re acquiring should be good for the next three to four years,” he said.

SM Prime chief financial officer Jeffrey Lim earlier said they were looking to acquire five more properties in China to support their aggressive expansion in the world’s second biggest economy.

China is the group’s second biggest market next to the Philippines.

For this year, SMIC has set a capital spending of around P54 billion to continue the expansion of its banking, shopping mall, and real estate businesses. The capital budget is higher than what it spent in 2011.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=828533&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Related articles

• SMIC to list bonds worth P25 B on PDEX (business.inquirer.net)
• PH stock market gets out of 5-day slump (business.inquirer.net)
• SM Investment to launch P15-B bond offer (business.inquirer.net)
• Synopsys and SMIC Announce DesignWare IP for 40-nm Low-Leakage Process (prnewswire.com)
• SMIC, Synopsys Report Availability of DesignWare IP on 40-nm Low-Leakage Process Technology (azonano.com)
• Synopsys and SMIC Announce DesignWare IP for 40-nm Low-Leakage Process (sacbee.com)
• SMIC Employs Mentor Graphics Calibre PERC for Reliability Verification of Multi-Power Domain SoCs (sys-con.com)
• Philippine Stocks Movers: Empire East, Megaworld, SM Investments - Bloomberg (bloomberg.com)
• Semiconductor Manufacturing International's CEO Discusses Q1 2012 Results - Earnings Call Transcript (seekingalpha.com)
• Amkor Technology Receives Excellent Service Provider Award from SMIC (sys-con.com)

Stock News 2012: SMIC earmarks P5 billion for hotel project

SM Investments Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
SM Investments Corp. (SMIC), the holding firm for the various business of the family of the country’s richest man Henry Sy, has earmarked almost P5 billion for the construction of two hotels under the Luxury brand.

Based on documents submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), SMIC has appropriated around P4.93 billion out of the total proceeds from its fixed-rate bond issue for two hotel projects to be built at the Mall of Asia complex and in Looc, Batangas.

A big chunk, or P3.4 billion, will go to Luxury City Hotel, an upscale hotel that will have approximately 400 rooms.

The balance of P1.53 billion will be channeled to the 400-room Luxury Hotel in Santelmo, Batangas. “This will be a resort,” said SMIC chief financial officer Jose Sio.

Sio said the design and costing are still being prepared.

SMIC’s hotels and convention centers segment is aiming to offer 1,000 hotel rooms by 2013.

The group is currently building the P750-million Park Inn Radisson Hotel in Davao City’s Lanang District, the first Park Inn Radisson in the Asia Pacific region.

Targeted for opening in the first quarter of 2013, the 204-room Park Inn hotel will be located within the 175,000-square meter mixed-use complex owned and developed by SMIC’s shopping mall subsidiary SM Prime Holdings Inc.

The Park Inn brand is one of the hotel brands under Carlson and is the largest mid-market brand for hotels under development in Europe.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=815940

Related articles

• SM Investment to launch P15-B bond offer (business.inquirer.net)
• SMIC gets Triple-A rating on P15-B bond offer (business.inquirer.net)
• Sofitel's Luxury Makeover Returns Profit (businessweek.com)
• SM Prime investing P1.4B to expand Bacolod mall (business.inquirer.net)
• SMIC Inks Deal to Build Expansion Project Operating at 32/28 and 45/40 nm Nodes (azonano.com)
• PSEi slides below 4,900 in bloodbath (business.inquirer.net)
• Glam Travel | Preferred Hotel Group Launches New Family Travel Website (glamamom.com)
• SMIC Employs Mentor Graphics Calibre PERC for Reliability Verification of Multi-Power Domain SoCs (sys-con.com)
• Tech Tour Day Eight: Kalamazoo, BC Shine (detroit.cbslocal.com)
• Semicon China - SMIC Shows off 28-nm HKMG Development (chipworks.com)

Stock News 2012: SMIC, major units bag top award anew

SM Investments Corporation (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
For the third consecutive year, SM Investments Corp. (SMIC) won The Asset Platinum Corporate Award 2011 for all-around excellence in management, financial performance, corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, and investor relations.

The highly prestigious Platinum Corporate Award was given to only 19 companies from Asia, which include, aside from SMIC, two other SM Group companies, namely SM Prime Holdings Inc. and BDO Unibank Inc.

The recognition was given by The Asset Publishing and Research Ltd, a Hong Kong-based multimedia entity serving the Asian financial markets and publisher of The Asset magazine. Platinum is the highest category under The Asset’s awards program.

“It is once again our honor and privilege to win The Asset’s Platinum Corporate award. It is indeed a fitting recognition of SM’s firm commitment to sound management and responsible corporate citizenship. We sincerely offer the award to our shareholders, clients, employees, and other stakeholders, for whom we undertake to continue implementing rigorous management practices,” SMIC president Harley T. Sy said.

“The criteria used to assess the companies include a range of metrics of financial performance, which are also a proxy for gauging management acumen,” The Asset explained.

“Since the purpose of the awards is also to recognize the importance of sustainable growth, companies are also evaluated according to the quality of their corporate governance, social responsibility, environmental responsibility, and investor relations,” it added.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=772510&publicationSubCategoryId=66

Related articles

• SMIC gets Triple-A rating on P15-B bond offer (business.inquirer.net)

Stock News 2011: SMIC expects better Q3, on track for double-digit growth

Conglomerate SM Investments Corporation (SMIC) expects its third quarter performance this year to be better than the same period in 2010 as Filipinos remain optimistic about their prospects.

In an interview at the sidelines of a forum organized by the Economic Journalists Association of the Philippines, SMIC chief finance officer Jose Sio said sales this year is being boosted by higher consumer spending.

He noted that this is due to strong remittances from overseas Filipinos as well as the large number of business process outsourcing firms all over the country which is providing employment and resulting in more disposable income.

However, Sio noted that, traditionally, earnings in the second quarter is seasonally better than in the third quarter.

He also disclosed that SMIC is on track to hit its targets this year as indicated by its first half results. “The indication is the same as of now. We can fulfill, if not better, our original budget,” Sio said.

SMIC registered a 13 percent growth in net income to P9.64 billion in the first half of 2011 from P8.53 billion during the same period in last year.

Consolidated revenues increased 9 percent to P92.94 billion as compared to P84.99 billion in the first semester of 2010.

The robust performance of SM’s property group, particularly its residential development business, and the sustained growth of its banking subsidiaries contributed to the company’s positive results for the period.

http://mb.com.ph/articles/334380/smic-expects-better-q3-track-doubledigit-growth