ABOITIZ Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) said it is allocating a capital-expenditure (capex) plan of about P77 billion this year, more double what it actually spent last year when the company had a shortfall in spending.
AEV CFO Manuel O. Lozano said the increase—from the actual P35 billion spent last year—was that AEV did not spend all of its P50-billion budget for its capex in 2017.
He said they have also increased the capex budget this year as they have started some projects, such as the Dinginin coal-fired power plant.
“About P60 billion of the capex is for power [Aboitiz Power Corp.]. The rest…there are three that are more or less the same from last year—cement [Republic Cement] and land [AboitizLand], which will be about P4 billion to P5 billion each. And then the bank will have a capex also,” he said.
Lozano said that all of the power projects already have allocations. He said a lot of the cash that the company has for the year was set aside for equity contribution.
“So the power side is all funded,” he said.
Meanwhile, for the Davao bulk-water project through Apo Agua, AEV has already set aside the equity portion of the P13-billion project cost and is currently finalizing the 70-percent project financing.
“Actually, we have been talking to the banks already for a long time. They are just waiting until we can finalize it, until we finish all the permits. Now that we’re on the tail-end, hopefully within the next two to three months, we get that already in place,” he said.
The Aboitiz Group’s first infrastructure venture, Apo Agua Infrastructura Inc., is a bulk-water project that will provide Davao City with 300 million liters of water supply per day.
Apo Agua, a joint venture between AEV and JV Angeles Construction Corp., previously signed an agreement with the Davao City Water District to build one of the country’s largest private bulk-water supply projects.
Upon completion, the facility will have a capacity of 300 million liters per day of potable water sourced from the Tamugan River to benefit Davao City’s 1 million residents.