AEV allocates P88-billion capex for 2014

Business Mirror

29 Jan 2014 

 

Written by VG Cabuag

ABOITIZ Equity Ventures Inc. (AEV) on Wednesday said it is allocating P88 billion for the group’s capital expenditures (Capex) this year, the bulk of which will go to its power business as the company is set to complete its generation plants.

The company said that it will allot P78 billion for its power unit, P4 billion for its property unit to develop new residential projects and the rest for its banking and fuel units.

This year’s capex is higher by nearly half from P59 billion that it announced last year.

“With this year’s capex budget, we reiterate our commitment to provide reliable and ample power supply at a reasonable cost and support the Philippines’s energy needs,” AEV President and Chief Executive Officer Erramon Aboitiz said.

AboitizPower is implementing a five-year plan to increase capacity by up to 2,098 megawatts (MW) by 2017.

To date, the power unit is already constructing three run-of-river hydro plants equivalent to 28 MW. This consists of the 14-MW Tudaya I and II hydro plants in Mindanao which are expected to be completed by the first half of 2014 and the 13-MW Sabangan hydro plant in Luzon which will be finished by early 2015.

On the other hand, the 300-MW Davao base-load plant, which broke ground in 2012, is also expected to be completed in 2015 to help address the power supply shortfall in Mindanao.

It will also expand its Pagbilao base-load plant and construction of its Cebu base-load plant within 2014. “These two projects will increase capacity in the Luzon and Visayas grids in 2017b by an additional 400 MW and 300 MW, respectively, by 2017,” the company said.

AEV’s petroleum unit, Aseagas, will also break ground its P2.25-billion liquid bio-methane plant, which will produce transport fuel from organic waste.

Once completed, the plant will have a capacity of around 9,000 metric tons of bio-methane per year. Construction is expected to be completed within 18 months.

Property unit Aboitiz Land estimates that it will be spending roughly P4 billion this year as it opens new phases for its Priveya Hills, Pristina North and Almiya projects.

The company is looking at launching at least three new residential projects within the year.

It has also recently entered into a joint-venture agreement with Ayala Land for the development and operation of a 15-hectare city center in Subangdaku, Mandaue City in metropolitan Cebu. Its banking unit Union Bank of the Philippines will invest P680 million for technology-related infrastructure and expansion of its branch network to maximize growth in both deposit and loan accounts.

Food subsidiary Pilmico Foods Corp. is spending P2.7 billion for the expansion of its feeds and farms operations through the construction of two feed mill plants and the third expansion of its breeder and growing-finishing farms.   source