GOTIANUN-LED Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) announced on Friday the commissioning of one of three boilers of FDC Utilities Inc.’s (FDCUI) energy facility in Misamis Oriental is set to commence soon to add to the supply of electricity in the southern part of the Philippines.
During the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting held at a hotel in Alabang, Muntinlupa, FDC President and CEO Josephine Gotianun-Yap said they are excited for this development to happen in the second quarter of 2016.
The remaining two units will follow within the year, she said.
“With the addition of 405 megawatts [MW] of much-needed power to the Mindanao grid, we look forward to partnering with the region in accelerating growth,” she said of the combined capacities of the coal-power plant.
This new development in FDC’s energy business, through its power unit FDCUI, forms part of the various initiatives the company has taken over the last three years to strengthen its portfolio in growth areas of the country’s economy.
Other major investments already done were the expansion of EastWest Bank’s branches from 265 in 2011 to 433 last year, and the increase in gross leasable area at Filinvest Land Inc., which doubled from the 2009 levels.
“These investing activities are all reasons why the net income, albeit growing steadily, has not kept pace with the increase in revenues,” the top executive said. “Full-year revenues from these investments will be felt in the succeeding years.”
The publicly listed firm recently disclosed a 13-percent growth in net income to P7 billion in 2015, while revenues increased by 28 percent to P49.3 billion, partly due to the initial recognition of electricity sales from FDCUI, as well as sales hike in property-development projects.
Contributing 13 percent to FDC’s top figures, the power subsidiary saw its first significant revenue stream in 2015, as it recognized the sale of energy from its Independent Power Producer Administrator contracts for 40 MW and 100 MW of power from Unified Leyte and Apo 1 and 2 geothermal power plants, respectively.
Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) and Filinvest Alabang Inc.—the group’s real-estate businesses—still accounted for the bulk of revenues at 43 percent.
Banking unit EastWest Bank had a 37-percent share in FDC revenues, while the balance came from the sugar (5 percent) and hotel (2 percent) businesses.
Apart from strong 2015 earnings results, the group also sustained its robust monetary standing, with assets aggregating P419.5 billion, or 22 percent higher than recorded in 2014.
Stockholders’ equity at year-end also grew by 8 percent to P97.1 billion.
Amid aggressive development plans, the firm still managed to cap 2015 with a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.04:1, while its net-debt-to-equity ratio was 0.48:1.
All FDC stockholders on record as of May 27, 2016—as approved by the company’s board of directors—will be paid cash dividends of 5.16 centavos per share, or a total of P481 million, equivalent to a payout rate of 11 percent, on June 21 this year.