Aboitiz Group allocates 42% of P69 billion capex for infra

Aboitiz Group is allocating 42 percent of the P69 billion capex earmarked this year for infrastructure projects.

The Cebu-grown conglomerate is earmarking P69 billion capex this year, which is 152 percent higher than the P27 billion it allocated in 2021, announced Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc., (AEV) chief financial officer Manuel Lozano during the virtual press briefing following the company’s Annual Stockholders Meeting held early this week.

“This is probably the first time that our biggest capex component is in our new sector which is infra,” said Lozano explaining that 42 percent or P29 billion will be spent for infrastructure building, including establishment of telecom towers, land banking, new sites, among others.

He said this move is also “to help boost the growth of our newest endeavors namely economic estates, common towers, bulk water, and of course, digital initiatives.

Balancing the Group’s portfolio, he said is part of the reasons why the Group is focusing its spending on non-power business units.

About P7 billion will be allocated for land banking or land acquisition and new site development through the of Aboitiz InfraCapital’s (AIC) economic estates.

AIC’s telco tower business and other digital infrastructure projects will receive P5 billion each.

Meanwhile, the company’s The bulk water project in Davao City will spend P3 billion. The rest of the money is set aside for other projects like Republic Cement’s major maintenance and safety-related expenses.

The P28 billion capex allocated for AboitizPower this year will be spent for the ‘development and construction of various solar power, hydropower and battery energy-storage systems and the continuous improvement of the reliability of base load plants, he added.

Meanwhile, its banking arm, UnionBank gets P3 billion for this year’s expenditure to boost its digital channels and building more capacities.

Pilimico Food Group, the firm’s food arm will get P6 billion this year.

According to Pilmico Food Group President and CEO Tristan Aboitiz, this will be used for the expansion of feed mills in Vietnam and China.

Real estate development subsidiary, AboitizLand, gets to spend at P2 billion this year for building new phases in its existing real estate projects such as Foressa Mountain Town in Cansamoray, Balamban, Cebu and The Villages in Lipa in Batangas in Luzon.

In 2021, AEV recorded a Net 77 percent surged of net earnings on the back of the robust performance of its business units amid an improving economy.

AEV’s 2021 full year profit reached P27.3 billion versus P15.4 billion in the previous year.