|
AYALA
Land Inc.’s (ALI) planned sale of P4 billion worth of
bonds has secured the highest rating possible from
Philippine Rating Services Corp. (PhilRatings).
The
company, considered as the country’s largest property
developer, said the ratings agency assigned a “PRS Aaa”
mark on the issuance, which “is given to debt
obligations with the smallest degree of investment
risk.”
Based on
the preliminary prospectus it earlier filed with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, the bonds will be
due in 2013. Proceeds from the bond sale will be used to
help fund its P24.3 billion capital-expenditure program
for the year.
PhilRatings cited ALI’s strong sales “with substantially
all projects reporting high take-up rates.”
ALI’s
gross revenues in the first quarter of the year reached
P8.23 billion, or 28 percent higher than last year’s
figure. Its main business lines reported robust sales
with the residential units accounting for gross revenues
of P3.5 billion from the bookings of 1,000 units from 50
projects, or 17 percent higher than the same period last
year, coupled with higher average percentage completion.
Strong
earnings were also attributed to rental-rate increases
in its leasing businesses—like office space and shopping
centers—and additional gross leasable area from shopping
centers contributed by a new expansion building at Ayala
Center Cebu, Greenbelt 5 and TriNoma in Quezon City.
These projects accounted for a 30-percent increase in
gross leasable area over the 2006 figure.
PhilRatings noted ALI’s remarkable track record of
consistent profitability despite the peaks and valleys
of the real-estate industry cycle.
Notwithstanding prevailing issues and looming
uncertainties, PhilRatings affirmed the company’s plans
for sustained growth through its residential
developments, shopping centers and corporate business
line.
Despite
global weakness in the financial market, ALI continues
to perform well on the back of the strong domestic
market.
“In
fact, in the residential segment, we’ve recorded [a]
39-percent rise in booking sales for the first two
months of the year. Although the sales from the US
market have flattened, its impact was not reflected
across all our residential projects,” said president
Jaime Ayala in an earlier interview.
He said
their strategy is to push for lower-priced products and
open up more distribution channels in the Middle East
and Europe, or in areas that are less affected by the
subprime debacle.
On the
business-process outsourcing space segment, he said
indications are still positive as demand continues to be
very strong. |
