PRIME Orion Philippines Inc., the company that owns the rights to develop Tutuban in Divisoria, Manila, said it had a deeper loss during its fiscal year ending June, partly as a result of the decline in value of its shareholdings in Cyber Bay Corp.
The company said in a statement that it had a net loss of P262.2 million for its fiscal year, much deeper than last year’s P41.33-million loss.
It said the figures included an impairment loss of P236 million to account for the decline in value of 1.38 billion shares of Cyber Bay Corp.
“The group recognized the loss pending definitive updates on Cyber Bay’s projects,” it said.
Cyber Bay has a stake in a 750-hectare reclaimed property in Manila Bay. The property was the site of the proposed new airport being offered by San Miguel Corp. President and COO Ramon Ang to the government.
Prime Orion’s unit owns Tutuban Properties Inc. which holds the lease and development rights over a 22-hectare market district in downtown Divisoria. On the property sits the Tutuban Center, one of the retail centers in the area.
Tutuban Properties renewed its contract of lease with the Philippine National Railways for another 25 years, or from September 5, 2014 to 2039.
In March the Philippine National Railways (PNR) turned over to Tutuban Properties some 3 hectares of Phase II-A of the leased property along Tayuman and in June, PNR also turned over about 5.8 hectares of Phase II-B, or air rights along Dagupan. In turn, Tutuban Properties released to PNR the corresponding rental of about P115 million.
With the turnover of additional land and air rights, Tutuban Properties now has control of more than 17 hectares of the 20-hectare PNR property which is vital to the redevelopment of Tutuban Center and its integration with the North South Railway Project of the Department of Transportation and Communications and PNR.
Earlier this year, Ayala Land Inc. has acquired a controlling stake in Prime Orion due to its holdings in Tutuban, still Metro Manila’s trading center despite its dilapidated buildings and outdated infrastructure.