Metro Pacific debt seen below P1B by next year

Metro Pacific Corp. (MPC), the local flagship of Hong Kong conglomerate First Pacific Co. Ltd., expects its debts to go down to less than P1 billion by early next year following successful negotiations with several creditors through dacion en pago or payment-in-kind scheme.

MPC president and chief executive officer Jose Ma. Lim said the company will sign in January next year an agreement with the Development Bank of the Philippines and the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. for the settlement of P500- million worth of debts.

"We’re targeting to bring it down to less than a billion pesos, "Lim stressed.

Lim added he is confident MPC would be able to end this year in the black as it expects the completion of negotiations with creditors for the full repayment or restructuring of its debts. For the first nine months of the year, MPC posted a net income of P107.7 million, a significant reversal from a net loss P8.6 billion in the same period last year.

Last April, MPC signed a memorandum of agreement with Ayala Land and Greenfield Development Corp. for the repayment of a P4.8-billion loan. ALI and GDC acquired the principal of MPC’s $90-million loan from Larouge, a First Pacific subsidiary, with a cash payment of $90 million. In exchange, MPC transferred its 50.4-percent interest in Bonifacio Land Corp., the private consortium controlling Fort Bonifacio Development Corp.

MPC had likewise recently reached an agreement with its creditors for the restructuring of P1.4-billion debt out of its remaining P2.5-billion loan obligations.

In addition to the Larouge loan repayment, MPC had concluded individual agreements with a number of Philippine-based lending institutions resulting in the repayment of various debts totaling P1.2 billion.

It had also reached agreements in principle for the repayment via dacion of P1.3 billion in liabilities to several of Philippine-based lenders.

On April 14, 2003, MPC entered into an agreement to settle a loan granted by Export and Industry Bank with principal and interest amounting to P1.6 billion. The terms of the settlement calls for the purchase by third parties of the loan by delivery of asset-backed notes.

As it nears the completion of its debt reduction program, MPC will continue to improve further the robust performance of shipping subsidiary Negros Navigation Co. Inc. and upscale property unit Landco Pacific Corp.