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AYALA
Land Inc. (ALI), the country’s largest real-estate
developer, plans to offer 1 billion common shares to
generate funds for expansion.
In a
disclosure to the stock exchange Wednesday, senior vice
president and chief finance officer Jaime E. Ysmael said
the board has approved the plan in a meeting on February
12.
The ALI
shares would be worth P13.5 billion based on prices
Wednesday.
“The
company can exchange such shares for properties or
assets and/or to raise funds to acquire properties or
assets needed for the business of the corporation via
issuance of equity or equity-linked instruments,” Ysmael
said in the statement.
The
board based on prevailing market conditions or on
agreements negotiated will determine the offer price and
terms and conditions. A two-thirds majority of the
company’s shareholders would have to approve the plan,
however.
Thus,
the board would have to secure authority from
stockholders to issue and set aside the shares and the
company’s amended articles of incorporation to exclude
the shares from the preemptive rights of stockholders
under Philippine law.
Ayala Land
earlier reported a 13-percent increase in net income for
2007 to P4.4 billion versus P3.9 billion a year earlier
on the back of a significant margin expansion in its key
business lines.
Consolidated revenues rose to P25.7 billion from P25.6
billion in the same comparable period. The growth was
tempered by residential revenue bookings in 2006 after
the standardized revenue recognition policy was adopted.
There was also the absence of BPO leasing revenues from
the sale of PeopleSupport building in the fourth quarter
of 2006. As a result, operating revenues contributed by
ALI’s five core and three support businesses amounted to
only P22.9 billion in 2007 from P23.6 billion 2006.
Shopping
centers, a major segment of ALI’s operations, reported a
5-percent rise in revenues to P4.2 billion in 2007
despite the blast incident in Glorietta 2 last October.
Net
operating income of shopping centers dropped one percent
to P2.4 billion in the absence of one quarter’s earnings
from the high-margin Glorietta 2 mall.
Residential development, meanwhile, accounted for the
bulk of ALI’s revenues at P13.0 billion or 50 percent of
total revenues. Corporate business generated P993
million in revenues; strategic landbank management made
P373 million; and the Visayas-Mindanao operations
contributed P176 million to total revenues. |
