Subic Freeport reports robust first-half growth

SUBIC BAY FREEPORT — The Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) reported that this premier Freeport posted continued growth in terms of revenues, dividends, investments, exports and tourism.

In her report to President Duterte, SBMA Administrator Wilma Eisma pointed out that the agency registered increases in all aspects of its performance from January to May this year.

She said that in terms of the agency’s financial performance, it recorded a 7.7 percent growth in revenue from R1.16 billion in the first five months last year to R1.25 billion in the same period this year, and a 3.4 percent increase in operating income for the same period.

She reported SBMA’s net income rose by more than 126 percent, from the R106.27 million that was recorded in January-May 2016, to R240.21 million in the same period in 2017.

Eisma also said that because of the upsurge in its financial performance, the SBMA managed to contribute bigger amounts to the government coffers than ever before.

This includes a 30.58 percent increase in the revenue shares to local government units that went from R115.22 million in the first half last year to R150.46 million this year; and a 30.42 percent increase in the government’s 3% share from the gross income earned in the Subic Bay Freeport, which rose from R178.37 million in January-May 2016 to R232.63 million in the same period in 2017.

Still, the dividends paid by the SBMA to the Bureau of Treasury, Eisma added, jumped 352.7 percent, as actual remittances grew from R145.91 million to R660.69 million.

Eisma said the favorable financial picture in Subic also extended to new investment commitments, which surged by 642 percent from R5.6 billion in January to May 2016, to R40.55 billion in January-May 2017. Likewise, the number of new business locators grew by 58, bringing the total number of Subic-registered businesses to 1,527, while expansion projects of existing locators jumped by 85 percent, or from 13 last year to 24 this year.

“The huge increase in new investment commitments is due primarily to the approval of the investment project of Dynamic Konstruk International Eco Builders Corp. (DKIEBC), which amounts to R39.92 billion,” Eisma explained.

DKIEBC will engage in general construction, renewable energy and industrial hub development at the Rodondo Peninsula, with projected employment ranging from a minimum of 10,000 to a maximum of 50,000.

Eisma said other major business developments in Subic this year included the soft opening of Datian Subic Corp.’s shoe factory, which now employs 1,000 workers; the ground-breaking of Toyota Subic, Inc.’s R150-million multilevel showroom and service center; the start of Teekay Swan’s and JOVO’s ship-to-ship transfer operations with an expected annual port revenue of R200 million; and the start of DM Leisure Corp.’s R4.6-billion golf course and leisure complex project.