Filinvest Development sets up to P25-billion capex budget

GOTIANUN-LED conglomerate Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) has allocated between P20 billion and P25 billion for its capital expenditure (capex) budget this year.

FDC Chief Finance Officer Brian T. Lim said during a briefing last week that 60% of the budget would go to real estate, 15% to renewable energy, another 15% to hospitality, and the remaining 10% to other businesses.

“We will fund this year’s capex through internally generated funds,” he said. FDC invested P13 billion in capex last year, he added.

FDC’s ongoing renewable energy projects include a 20-megawatt (MW) solar energy project in Misamis Oriental and a 12-MW solar energy project in Cebu, FDC President and Chief Executive Officer Rhoda A. Huang said.

“The commercial operations for the solar projects will happen in the next 10 to 12 months,” she said.

Ms. Huang said that FDC’s expansion in the hospitality segment include the ongoing construction of the 200-room hotel in Baguio City under the Grafik brand, which will open in the first quarter of 2025.

FDC is also renovating and expanding its Crimson Mactan Hotel, she added.

“Mactan was hard hit by Typhoon Odette. Then refurbishing happened and then we’re looking at expansion,” Ms. Huang said.

In terms of digitalization projects, FDC Chief Operating Officer Ysmael V. Baysa said the conglomerate has ongoing projects to improve its enterprise resource plan (ERP).

“Right now, we have several ERP systems across the conglomerate. We want to convert into just one. We’re also enhancing our purchasing segment, project management system, and the management report and analysis and planning system…,” he said.

“The (improvement) project started as early as 2021, on the conceptualization. The projects have been ongoing,” he added.

Meanwhile, Ms. Huang said that FDC is securing approval for a preferred shares listing as part of the conglomerate’s fundraising efforts.

“It will not be early. If ever, it (preferred shares listing) will be late fourth quarter or first quarter of 2025 because we have funding in place for the purposes of the budgeted capex for 2024. We will be opportunistic,” she said.

“It is early. We want to see the developments for the purposes of the capex budget utilization,” she added.

In January, FDC raised P10 billion from the first tranche of its P32 billion three-year bond program. The net proceeds will be used to partially finance our maturing bond redemption and capital expenditure, including financing for equity investments in renewable energy, water, hospitality, and digitalization projects.

FDC has presence in the real estate sector through Filinvest Land, Inc. and Filinvest Alabang.

The conglomerate is also in the power and hospitality sectors through FDC Utilities, Inc. and Filinvest Hospitality Corp., respectively.

It is also engaged in the banking sector via East West Banking Corp., as well as in the sugar and infrastructure segments.

FDC saw a 58% jump in its 2023 attributable net income to P8.9 billion. The conglomerate’s total revenues and other income increased by 31% to P92.8 billion.

Shares of FDC were last traded on April 5 at P5.50 apiece.