Roxas Group goes full blast on bioethanol, property projects

MANILA, Philippines - The Roxas Group, which owns a vast sugar empire in Negros, is going full blast with the construction of its first bioethanol plant and its diversification into hotel/resorts, commercial and mixed-use development which would require total investments of at least P2.5 billion.

In a briefing with reporters following Roxas & Co. Inc.’s (RCI) annual stockholders meeting yesterday, company chairman Pedro Roxas said the bioethanol plant, estimated to cost around P1.5 billion, will produce 100,000 liters a day when fully operational in February next year. The plant, located in La Carlota City, Negros Occidental, is intended to take advantage of opportunities provided by the Biofuels Act of 2006 which mandates the use of locally-produced biofuels.

At the same time, Roxas said the group is  bullish on the property sector which has been experiencing strong growth in the past years brought about by the return of investor confidence. It has earmarked close to a billion pesos for its real estate development projects. “The rosy prospects for real estate bring limitless opportunities for industry players and we are positioned to capitalize on them,” he said.

RCI president and chief executive Francisco Del Rosario Jr. said the group is venturing into tourism development with plans to put up a mixed-use self contained community integrating a  luxury resort facility and residential units in a 300-400 square meter property in Tagaytay. Estimated to cost around P200 million, the project involves the establishment of a hotel, commercial complex and 15-20 residential villas and 60 open lots.

Plans are also underway for the development of medium-cost housing units  in Batangas in joint venture with the Lopez family. Unit sizes range from 80 to 120 square meters priced at P3,500 per square meter. 

In addition, the group is exploring the possibility of building a commercial center on a 3.2-hectare property in Nasugbu, Batangas, estimated to cost around P350 million. Plans also include the establishment of an open area for events and for the development of a seven-storey businessman’s hotel costing P300 million.

To sustain its real estate activities, the group is open to forging partnerships with landowners.  It owns several parcels of land with a total land area of 2,900 hectares in Nasugbu, Batangas.  Of these, 2,241 hectares are subject to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.

The group has also ventured into the development of memorial parks with the 3,000-unit San Antonio Memorial Gardens in Nasugbu, Batangas as its pilot project.

The Roxas Group has undertaken a coporate reorganization this year, resulting in the merger of the defunct CADP Group with RCI to be the group’s entity for real estate businesses. With the merger, RCI now has interests in both sugar manufacturing through Roxas Holdings Inc. and property development through Roxas Land.

The group is expanding the operations of its sugar milling and refining subsidiaries to increase revenue-generating capability and enhance-competitiveness. The first phase expansion will boost existing capacity to 18,000 by November 2009.

The expansion is in preparation for the lowering of sugar tariffs to 5 percent from 35 percent beginning in 2010 in line with the tariff reduction scheme of the ASEAN Free Trade Agreement.