DMCI unveils plan to expand overseas

posted April 01, 2016 at 11:45 pm by  Jenniffer B. Austria

http://thestandard.com.ph/business/202705/dmci-unveils-plan-to-expand-overseas.html

DMCI Holdings Inc., the holding company of the Consunji family, plans to expand overseas over the next five years.

DMCI chairman and president Isidro Consunji said the company was looking at Vietnam, Myanmar and East Timor as possible investment sites for its core businesses, including water and construction.

The group is in talks with Marubeni Corp. of Japan as a possible joint venture partner for overseas venture, he said.

Consunji said aside from looking overseas for investment opportunities, the company still saw a lot of growth opportunities in the Philippines, given its steady economic growth.

“If we don’t expand, our growth will plateau. So we need to shift to higher gear and to another level of growth,” Consunji said.

Consunji did not provide specific details, but said the company’s expertise was acquiring “junk” companies and turning them around into profitability, in the same way it transformed Semirara Mining Corp., Maynilad Water Services Inc. and Calaca power plant project.

He said while the conglomerate planned to be more aggressive with expansion, the new ventures were not expected to affect the company’s return on equity and dividend policy.

DMCI said core net income rose 20 percent in 2015 to P12.3 billion from P10.3 billion in 2014.

“Our growth was driven by the strong performance of all our investments. Despite weak commodity prices and project execution delays, we were able to meet our profit guidance for the year,” Consunji said. 

Net income contribution from Semirara Mining rose 18 percent to P4.8 billion from P4.1 billion in 2014. 

Net income contribution from property unit DMCI Homes also improved 11 percent from P3.2 billion to P3.6 billion. Excluding the effect of a gain on sale of an undeveloped lot in 2014, net income rose 18 percent year-on-year.

The continued improvement in operational performance and a 4-percent increase in billed volume in 2015 pushed net earnings contribution of unit Maynilad to grow 17 percent to P2.3 billion from  P2 billion reported the prior year. 

Net income contribution from DMCI Mining Corp. expanded 38 percent to P501 million, from P362 million in 2014, while off-grid supplier DMCI Power Corp. contributed P382 million, a 57-percent increase from P243 million the previous year.

DMCI has diversified from construction to other businesses such as real estate, coal mining and power generation.