Sta. Lucia to avail of P5-B corporate note facility

STA. LUCIA Land, Inc. (SLI) plans to avail of a seven-year corporate note facility of up to P5 billion to pay its existing obligations as well as to finance the development of its projects.

The property developer disclosed to the stock exchange on Tuesday its board of directors has authorized SLI to negotiate and avail of the facility with financial institutions. The corporate note facility comprises a base size of P3 billion, with an overallotment option of up to P2 billion.

The listed firm will be tapping a maximum of 19 investors for the facility.

“(The corporate note facility will be used) for the pre-payment of existing obligations of the corporation, the financing of project development costs, and general corporate purposes,” SLI said.

The company will have to secure regulatory approvals to proceed with the corporate note facility.

In the same board meeting, SLI was authorized to enter into a total of eight joint venture projects. The largest project is located in Bulacan, which covers a total of 715,410 square meters ( sq. m.). This is followed by a Batangas project spanning 383,069 sq. m., and a project in Palawan with total size of 178,762 sq. m.

SLI will also partner with firms for projects in Baguio City, Quezon City, Cavite, Rizal, and Negros Occidental.

The company known for operating the Sta. Lucia Mall in Cainta is likewise ramping up its land bank, as it is slated to buy more than 1.01 million sq.m. of land. The biggest lot is located in Batangas, covering 524,015 sq.m., followed by a 239,000-sq.m property in General Santos City. Other areas where the company is purchasing land are Dagupan City, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, Iloilo, and Davao.

Last September 2017, SLI disclosed plans to raise P15 billion in the local capital markets to fund its expansion in the next three to five years. This would accelerate the company’s development of more residential, retail, commercial, and tourism-related properties.

Incorporated in 1996, SLI develops horizontal and residential properties across the country, relying on overseas Filipino workers, families, foreign investors, retirees, young urban professionals, and newly married couples as its clients.

The company grew its attributable profit by 31% in the first three quarters of 2017 to P700.5 million, against the P534.1 million it realized in the same period a year ago. This comes on the back of a 17% year- on-year increase in revenues to P2.79 billion.

Shares in SLI added a centavo or 0.97% to close at P1.04 each on Tuesday.