Stock News 2012: DMCI net profit hits P5.78 B in H1

English: Fort Bonifacio in Taguig City (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Consunji-led DMCI Holdings, Inc. saw its first half net profit rise nine percent to P5.78 billion on the back of higher real estate sales and construction revenues.

In a financial report submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE), DMCI said consolidated revenues went up by 4.81 percent to P27.47 billion with coal sales accounting for the lion’s share with P9.42 billion.

The coal mining business suffered 12 percent drop in contribution to total revenues due to lower coal prices. Nickel ore sales dipped by 13.6 percent to P1.52 billion.

Semirara Mining Corp. the country’s largest coal producer, reported a 20.7 percent drop in income in the first semester due to the decline in its coal and power revenues.

The power segment, coming mainly from the Calaca power units, also dropped in contributions due to the reduced capacity coming from the rehabilitation of its unit 1.

The construction business under D.M. Consunji posted better operations, pumping in P601 million to the group’s total earnings, up 23.7 percent year-on-year. The growth was due mainly to billable works done for the building projects. Significant accomplishments in the Entertainment City and the Raffles Hotel provided most of the boost in revenues.

Construction activity from the Tarlac-Pangasinan-LaUnion Expressway (TPLEX) also helped contribute notable revenues for DMCI.

Moving forward, newly awarded power plant-civil works projects in Calaca and Balayan, Batangas are also expected to contribute not just construction revenues but higher margins as well.

DMCI’s orderbook as of June 2012 reached P17 billion. The bulk of the balance of work is coming from the Entertainment City and the power plant contracts in Batangas. However, the orderbook does not include the MRT-7 railway project, which was conditionally awarded to DMCI upon financial closing.

The housing segment under the brand DMCI Homes logged a 38 percent increase in net contributions from P845 million last year to P1.2 billion. Revenues grew 40 percent to P4.5 billion due to the completion of sold units in the Cedar Crest project in Taguig City.

Reservation sales, on the other hand, declined six percent to P9.4 billion. The group hopes to at least reach the same levels of full year sales and reservations in 2011 as it launches new projects in the second half.

Most of the group’s housing units have a selling price around P3 million per unit. With the current increase of VAT-free housing price threshold to around P3.3 million, the company has leveraged on the tax advantage to become more competitive in terms of price in the market.

DMCI said its water business through Maynilad Water Services Inc., continued to post better results with net earnings rising 22 percent to P3.3 billion due to improved operating efficiencies.

The group owns 44.59 percent of the consortium company which in turn owns 91.9 percent of the west zone concessionaire.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?publicationSubCategoryId=66&articleId=839742

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Stock News 2012: First Gen to conclude buyout of joint venture partner this year

GE H series power generation gas turbine: in combined cycle configuration, this 480-megawatt unit has a rated thermal efficiency of 60%. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
First Gen Corp., the power generation unit of the Lopez Group, said it hopes to conclude this year the buyout of its British partner in a natural gas power generation venture.

A full ownership of First Gas Power Corp. will increase the attributable generating capacity of the company, top company executives said yesterday.

“Hopefully we can conclude it soon,” said First Gen Corp. chairman and chief executive Federico R. Lopez. “Hopefully even within the first half.”

British Gas Group, which is publicly listed on the London and New York Stock Exchange, owns 40 percent of First Gas, with the majority stake held by First Gen.

First Gas owns and operates the 1,000-megawatt (MW) Santa Rita combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant and the 500-MW San Lorenzo natural gas power plant, both in Batangas.

The 40-percent stake was worth $400 million in 2010.

The pricing, along with other terms and conditions, is currently being negotiated by both parties, First Gen chief finance officer Emmanuel Singson said.

“What is nice with it is if we come to a deal, it is just like acquiring another 600 MW but it will not contribute to caps [on generating capacity],” Lopez said.

The Energy Regulatory Commission sets the capacity limits of power generators based on the prescribed market share per grid and on a national level.

To date, First Gen and its units have a gross generating capacity of 2,763 MW, of which 1,500 MW is natural gas, 1,129 MW is geothermal and 134 MW is hydropower. It accounts for 18 percent of the country’s total installed power generation capacity.

Lopez said the company still has a leeway to increase capacity by another 1,700 MW.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=808343&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2012: First Gen looks to triple profit

Inauguration of the new Yerevan natural gas-fired thermal power plant Հայերեն: Նախագահ Սերժ Սարգսյանը ապրիլի 21-ին ներկա է գտնվել Երեւանի համակցված շոգեգազային ցիկլով էլեկտրակայանի բացման արարողությանը: (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
First Gen Corp., the power generation firm of the Lopez Group, is looking at a three-fold growth in profit this year, driven by higher electricity sales from its subsidiaries.

The energy firm is ready to invest in new projects and expand its ownership in existing units, its top executives said.

“We are already in triple-digit growth...I think this year we will be able to continue that momentum,” said First Gen president and chief operating officer Francis Giles B. Puno.

For the first quarter alone, the company already posted a 171-percent jump in profit to $52.1 million from $19.2 million a year ago.

Puno added that the company is targeting to triple its earnings this year, from $35 million last year.

“Analysts’ consensus is around $110 million [in net income],” First Gen executive vice-president Richard B. Tantoco said.

“That is driven by improved electricity revenues from Energy Development Corp. (EDC) and ancillary services from First Gen Hydro [Power Corp.],” Puno said.

First Gen’s net income slumped to $35 million last year from $70.2 million in the previous year amid lower income contribution from unit EDC.

Puno said that as EDC improves the operating performance of its power plants, electricity output and sales will grow.

To date, First Gen and its units have a gross generating capacity of 2,763 megawatts (MW), of which 1,500 MW is natural gas, 1,129 MW is geothermal and 134 MW is hydropower. It accounts for 18 percent of the country’s total installed power generation capacity.

Fresh funds are geared towards acquisitions, Puno said. The company has recently raised P10 billion from the sale of its perpetual preferred shares.

Specifically, Puno said the company is still interested to purchase the stake of British Gas Group in First Gas Power Corp. First Gas owns and operates the 1,000-MW Santa Rita combined-cycle natural gas-fired power plant and the 500-MW San Lorenzo natural gas power plant, both in Batangas.

For new projects, Puno said First Gen is ready to spend P16 billion for 91 MW of new generating capacity through wind and hydropower projects.

In the first quarter, First Gen’s consolidated revenues climbed 23.1 percent to $390.6 million from $317.3 million due to improved share in net earnings of its affiliates.

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=807660&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2012: SMC seen to hike stake in Citra unit to 51%

The Skyway System. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
San Miguel Corp. is likely to exercise its option to raise its stake in an Indonesian-backed company that controls Citra Metro Manila Tollways Corp. , the concession holder and operator of the 15-kilometer elevated Skyway tollroad project.

San Miguel recently forged a deal to acquire a 46-percent stake in Atlantic Aurum Inc., a unit of the Citra Group of Indonesia which owns a controlling interest in the Skyway project that runs from Makati to Alabang.

The food to infrastructure conglomerate has an option to increase its stake in Atlantic Aurum to 51 percent at a later date.

 “We can exercise our option anytime documentation is ready. But we’re not in a rush to do that. Citra doesn’t need the money,” SMC president Ramon S. Ang said.

 San Miguel and the Citra Group are currently studying a plan to acquire a majority stake in the 42-kilometer Southern Tagalog Arterial Road in Batangas, operated by the STAR Tollway Group led by Hong Kong-based Cypress Tree Ltd.

The move is part of a strategy to forge a powerhouse consortium that can take on big-ticket infrastructure projects under the flagship public-private partnership (PPP) program of the Aquino Administration.

Citra and San Miguel received a proposal from the Star Tollways Group to expand the tollroad in Batangas province south of the capital by widening the existing two lanes to four lanes.

Targeted to begin in the middle of 2012, the STAR tollroad expansion project is expected to be completed in 24 months at a cost of P2.5 billion.

Metro Pacific Tollways Corp. owns about two percent of CMMTC and has long been wanting to raise its stake to at least a third.

San Miguel has been eyeing toll roads as a strategic component in its push to become a major infrastructure player in the country.

SMC owns a minority interest in the Tarlac-Pangasinan-La Union Expressway and North Luzon East Expressway, which starts in Quezon City and will eventually stretch to Tuguegarao in Cagayan province.

To ensure continued growth, CMMTC has proposed to build the third and fourth phases of the Skyway project.

Skyway Stage 3, which will cost around P24 billion, will connect the North and South Expressways while stage 4, called Metro Manila Expressway, costs about P28 billion,

http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=764009&publicationSubCategoryId=66

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Stock News 2010: Eastern Petroleum logs 500% rise in sales with closed pipeline

Image by alles-schlumpf via Flickr
MANILA, Philippines – Trailing the feat of most oil companies unaffected by the Batangas-Manila pipeline closure, Eastern Petroleum Corporation reported that its sales have grown 500-percent month-on-month because of volume shift to other industry players.

In an interview with reporters, Eastern Petroleum chairman Fernando L. Martinez likewise noted the company’s sales revenues reached a record P3.2 billion to-date, which he described to have risen exponentially from last year.

The build-up in the oil firm’s inventory, he stressed, has been part of their “response to government call” following the supply delivery constraints experienced by Pilipinas Shell Petroleum Corporation and Chevron Philippines Inc.

“Eastern will continue to import huge quantities enough to fill up the gap to avoid any supply disruption for Luzon,” he said.

For the month of December alone, Martinez said they already cornered 37 million liters of diesel from a Japan shipment; and two gasoline product shipments from Singapore.

“The combined cargoes of more than 50 million liters are for distribution to Eastern Petroleum network of gasoline stations and to supply other oil retailers and distributors experiencing tight supply,” he added.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/292165/ea

Stock News 2010: Gokongwei Group set to start construction

Image via Wikipedia
Finally, the Gokongwei Group is going to start construction of its long-overdue $500-million naphtha cracker project in Batangas, Board of Investments managing head Cristino L. Panlilio said.

Panlilio told reporters that Lance Gokongwei, president of JG Summit Holdings Inc., who paid him a courtesy call last week and informed him of the project’s development.

“He said that project construction will start in January this year. It is rough half a billion dollar project,” Panlilio said.

The naphtha cracker plant was originally registered with the BoI in 2005 at a project cost of P25.6 billion under the JG Summit Petrochemical Corp. Based on that original registration, the plant was supposed was supposed to start commercial in 2008.

In May 2008, however, the company revised the project with a new commercial operation target of January 2012. At that time, the project cost already ballooned to P34.38 billion, P8.7 billion more than its original P25.6 billion because of the foreign exchange depreciation at that time. It was placed under an entirely new unit – JG Summit Olefins Corp.

This time, however, Panlilio said the project cost is roughly half a billion dollars or back to its original cost of P25 billion. The reduced cost could largely be attributed to the strong peso against the US greenback.

http://www.mb.com.ph/node/290286/gokongwei-group-

Stocks News 2010: Philippines ALI's Amaia Land posts P595M in sales

Image via WikipediaAYALA Land Inc.’s (ALI) initial foray into the low-cost housing sector is showing better-than-expected results.
This, after a top ALI official disclosed that the first Amaia Land project in Laguna has generated about P595 million in sales since its launch in March.  
Rex Mendoza, ALI senior vice president and head for corporate sales and marketing, said 604 units—or almost half the total 1,309 units launched—in Amaia Scapes Laguna have been sold by end-July. 
“What we intended to sell in two years, we sold in a few months,” Mendoza told reporters in a chance interview.
“This is something that we should have done earlier.  There is a very strong take-up [for Amaia Scapes ].  In fact we are studying several new locations now for Amaia,” he added.
The traditionally high-end developer is considered a latecomer in the economic housing segment, which has been long dominated by companies such as Villar-led Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc.
Amaia Scapes sells homes valued at P1.25 million and below, targeting families with P20,000 to P50,000 in monthly income, the company said. Citing statistics, ALI said this represents a third of all households in the country.
Mendoza added that while Amaia Scapes is only selling house and lot packages, the developer is already studying walk up-type units.
Plans for the brand include expanding into new geographic areas outside Luzon. “The sky is the limit for Visayas and Mindanao. We are going to be using it for a market that, obviously, Ayala Land Premier, Alveo and Avida cannot be part of,” the company executive added.
ALI currently serves the high-end market through Ayala Land Premier, while it is also tapping the middle-income and affordable segments through Alveo Land and Avida Land, respectively.
Amaia Land president Leo Montenegro said earlier that possible locations for new projects include Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon, Pampanga and Tarlac. The company has budgeted P1.08 billion for its three-year capital spending plan.
Meanwhile,  Amaia Scapes Laguna is expected to offer  a total of 1,800 units spread over 20 hectares.  ALI expects to generate P1.6 billion in sales until 2014.
Located in Calamba, Laguna, the development presently offers homes with living areas ranging from 25 square meters (sqm) to 56 sqm on lots measuring 40 sqm to 75 sqm.
Miguel R. Camus

August 17, 2010 20:44

http://businessmirror.com.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=29059:amaia-land-posts-p595m-in-sales&catid=24:companies&Itemid=59

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