LISTED conglomerate Ayala Corp. is aiming to close its $1-billion divestment plan within the year, its chief financial officer said.
“My hope is within the next four to six months, but clearly within the year,” Ayala Corp. Chief Financial Officer Alberto M. de Larrazabal told reporters last week.
In 2021, Ayala Corp. announced its strategy to raise $1 billion from the sale of its assets and some noncore businesses to boost its core businesses in sectors such as real estate, banking, telecommunications, and energy. The conglomerate initially planned to finish the divestment last year.
However, Mr. De Larrazabal said that Ayala Corp. is still looking to divest approximately $350 to $400 million.
“We’re close to 70% (completion). One or two more deals and we’re done. There are quite a few. If you look at some of the smaller assets in the industrial portfolio. We’ve mentioned in the past Light Rail Manila Corp. (LMRC)… Then there’s the balance of Manila Water Co., Inc. We can do that in parts,” he said.
“We only have about 20% (stake) in Manila Water, so I think $350 to $400 million. There’s still a few other smaller assets that we are working on,” he added.
He also said that there has been more interest in the conglomerate’s plan to sell its 35% stake in LRMC following the fare hike approval in August last year.
LRMC operates and maintains the 20.7-kilometer Light Rail Transit Line 1 (LRT-1). Ayala Corp.’s stake in LRMC is held via the conglomerate’s AC Infrastructure Holdings Corp.
“Manuel V. Pangilinan indicated interest. But we’re not at anywhere close to a final decision one way or another,” he said.
Some of Ayala Corp.’s divested assets include the Muntinlupa-Cavite Expressway which was sold to the Villar Group for P3.8 billion, the divestment of ACEN Corp. from the South Luzon Thermal Energy Corp., and the sale of its Manila Water shares for P5.7 billion in October.
For the first nine months, Ayala Corp’s attributable net income climbed by 35% to P32.31 billion led by better results from subsidiaries Bank of the Philippine Islands (BPI), Ayala Land, Inc., and ACEN Corp.
The conglomerate’s nine-month consolidated revenues improved 13.5% to P245.38 billion from P216.2 billion last year.
Ayala Corp. shares were last traded on Feb. 16 at P709 apiece. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave