What slowdown? Robinsons Land plans to hire 50% more staff

Robinsons Land thinks there is still considerable room for growth within the country’s vibrant real estate market, amid concerns of peak condo pricing and mall saturation in Metro Manila. The best indicator? The developer foresees its permanent, full-time managerial and support employees to increase in the fiscal year to 2,865 from its end-September 2015 level of 1,898.

That represents a hefty 50 percent jump in employee count in just a year for a company known for its conservatism.

For a longer time-frame, Robinsons Land’s “regular” manpower count (as opposed to the contractual force, which is nearly three times more) was only 1,818 in 2014.

In a report to shareholders ahead of the March 9 meeting, the mid-market developer also said it was committed to completing eight new malls within the next two years as well as expanding three more.

It currently has 40 shopping malls, nine of which are in Metro Manila, generating nearly half of Robinson Land’s over P19.7 billion revenue stream in the last fiscal year.

Of the P17 billion the company has allocated for capital expenditures for this fiscal year, a little over half would be spent for the construction of malls, office buildings mainly for call centers, and hotels.

The other half is being allocated to develop more residential subdivisions and to acquire more lands, mainly in the provincial cities.

The company said that it was, by the end of fiscal year 2015, in various stages of negotiations to acquire 85 hectares of land scattered in key cities.

LBC posts counter-bond, finally

LBC Express Holdings said it had posted the required counter-bond in a move to lift the month-long garnishment order issued by the Makati Regional Trial Court attaching some P1.8 billion of the company’s assets.

The listed cargo forwarder told the Securities and Exchange Commission that, with the posting of the counterbond, whose premium is estimated to cost anywhere between three to 10 percent of P1.8 billion annually, it has also filed a motion asking Makati RTC Branch 143 Judge Maximo de Leon to lift the attachment.

As well, LBC Express filed a motion to dismiss the sum-of-money complaint initiated by the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp., citing the Makati court’s lack of jurisdiction among its defenses.

The PDIC and the Bangko Sentral have alleged LBC Express siphoned off some P1.8 billion of bank funds of its sister LBC Development Bank that had caused the thrift bank’s collapse.

“The garnishment of LBC Express Inc.’s bank accounts has given rise to administrative challenges particularly in the manner by which (the company) may pay its suppliers and other counter-parties,” LBC said, maintaining only less than P7 million of the company funds had been garnished.

According to the grapevine, a Makati sheriff had tried but failed to attach a number of Forbes Park homes and even a yacht at the Manila Yacht Club, the latter apparently referring to the 80-footer motorboat Monica, whose last reported owner was LBC founder Carlos Araneta.

Heard through the grapevine

A leading Japanese automotive company has sent a US-based internal audit team to Manila to investigate reports that its top officers in the Philippines had been involved in a scandalous rigging of a raffle contest.

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