Lopez Group investing $3b

Manila Standard Today

By Alena Mae S. Flores Posted on May 28, 2013 at 12:02am

First Philippine Holdings Corp., the holding company of the Lopez Group, is spending more than $3 billion in energy projects over the next five to six years, a company executive said Monday.

“The expansion in power [generation] within the FPH portfolio will continue. There’s probably a need for more investments in power generation because of capacity requirements,” First Philippine Holdings chief finance officer Francis Giles Puno told reporters after the stockholders’ meeting.

Puno said First Holdings would expand its power generation business by increasing natural gas capacity by another 500 megawatts, including 100 MW in 2014 and 400 MW by 2016.

“Beyond 2016, we’re looking at another 800 MW by 2018. This will be LNG because of the inadequate supply of gas from Malampaya [gas field],” he said.

“We’re hoping to bring LNG to be able to supply the existing 1,500-MW plants but hopefully double that [or] close to 3,000 MW.  That way, we can justify also the investment in an LNG regas terminal,” Puno said.

He said the power plant expansion, including the LNG regasification facility, would require about $2.6 billion in investments, while the 87-MW Burgos wind project would need about $300 million.

The planned 60 MW run-of-river hydro projects in Mindanao, meanwhile, will require investments of about $240 million.

Meanwhile, First Philippine Holdings chairman Federico Puno said another venue for the company’s growth would be the fast-growing real estate sector, which contributed P1.7 billion  in earnings in 2012.

“We are eager to sweat our platform of assets more, maximize potential, and have all our subsidiaries firing on all cylinders in the coming years. This is precisely why FPH is adopting a more active parenting style over its subsidiaries, empowering them to become the growth engines of our company in the decades to come,” Lopez said.

First Philippine Holdings is bullish on Rockwell Land’s and First Philippine Industrial Park’s  performance this year.

Rockwell recently made its first foray into the broader market segment with the 53 Benitez mid-rise development in Quezon City and launched its first project outside Manila with the acquisition of a 3.1-hectare property in Cebu City.

First Philippine Holdings president Elpidio Ibañez said First Philippine Industrial Park was looking at expanding to Clark or Subic, although there were no definite plans yet.

“The industrial park will have its own expansion plans. We continue to grow that. We’re looking at other sites… Clark, Subic is certainly a place that we can expand,” Ibañez said.

The industrial park has successfully attracted large manufacturing companies such as Canon, Brother, Hoya, Cooper and Jedic.   source