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WEDNESDAY, 16 FEBRUARY 2011 20:23 MIGUEL R. CAMUS / REPORTER
AYALA Corp., one of the country’s oldest and most diversified conglomerates, has reiterated its interest to invest in the Aquino administration’s private public partnership (PPP) program, a top company official said.
The company is “looking closely” at diversifying into power and participating in infrastructure projects the government may bid out, said chief financial officer Delfin Gonzalez in an interview on Wednesday.
The move is seen to pit the company against other conglomerates with ambitions in these sectors, including San Miguel Corp., Metro Pacific Investments Corp. (MPIC), Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. and JG Summit Holdings Inc.
Other interested parties are DMCI Holdings Inc., the Lopez Group as well as the Gotianun family, through holding firm Filinvest Development Corp.
The Philippine government is preparing 80 infrastructure-related projects worth about P740 billion. A handful of these may be auctioned off within 2011, it was reported earlier.
Investing in power would also mark a major diversification move for Ayala Corp, which already has interests in telecommunications, water supply, real estate development, banking and electronics manufacturing.
Its last major move into infrastructure involved a three-way partnership with the Lopez family and MPIC in a bid to control the government’s 246-megawatt (MW) Angat hydroelectric plant in Norzagaray, Bulacan.
Korea Water Resources Corp. eventually submitted the superior offer during the public auction, although that contract has since come under review by the Supreme Court over foreign ownership issues.
Gonzales also said yesterday that Ayala Corp.’s 2010 profits were stronger than expected on higher earnings from most of its units, though he declined to elaborate.
Ayala Corp. shares lost 0.3 percent to P335 on Wednesday’s close.
The company’s main business units include Globe Telecom Inc., Ayala Land Inc., Bank of the Philippine Islands, Manila Water Co. Inc. and Integrated Micro-Electronics Inc. The company also has interests in business process outsourcing through unit LiveIt.
Ayala Corp. said its net income in the nine months to September rose 17 percent to P6.8 billion, with most units posting growth, offsetting the weakness of its telco company.
(With Bloomberg)
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