Top Business News

Megaworld allots P10B for 2009 capex
[ABS-CBNNEWS]MANILA - Megaworld Corp. has earmarked up to P10 billion for capital expenditures this year as it plans to roll out 5 new residential projects with a total sales value of P12 billion.
Megaworld is launching Two Central, a 400-unit high-rise residential building in Salcedo Village, Makati; Tower Three in Eastwood City in Libis; the 7-cluster Parkside Villas beside the Marriott Hotel in New Port City in Pasay; The Venice Residences in McKinley Hill, Fort Bonifacio; and Morgan Suites Executive Residences, also in McKinley Hill.
Metro Pacific sells 17% Landco stake
[INQUIRER]MANILA, Philippines—Infrastructure holding firm Metro Pacific Investments Corp. has approved the sale of a 17-percent stake or about a third of its entire interest in Lando Pacific Corp. to the Xerez-Burgos group, thereby yielding majority control of the upscale leisure estate developer back to its founder.
A disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange Friday showed that the board of MPIC, a unit of Hong Kong-based First Pacific Co. Ltd. led by Manuel V. Pangilinan, recently approved the reduction of its interest in Landco to 34 percent. Consequently, the group of founder Alfred Xerez-Burgos Jr. and his holding company AB Holdings Corp. (ABHC) will raise its stake to 66 percent.
Ayala, Philippine Developers May Be Upgraded on REITs (Update1)
[Bloomberg]Ayala Land Inc. and other Philippine property companies may be upgraded by analysts once the nation’s Congress enacts a law giving tax breaks for real estate investment trusts, the country’s biggest bank by assets said.
The developers have a pool of developments that can be immediately turned into REITs, said Jonathan Ravelas, a strategist at Banco de Oro Unibank Inc., also known as BDO Bank. REITs are trusts that hold properties and typically distribute rental income to investors in dividends.
“The big players have a good headstart,” Ravelas said. “They have a portfolio of high-quality assets that can be used to raise more cash and create more assets that can be put into a trust.”