Benpres Holdings changes name to Lopez Holdings

MANILA, Philippines - Benpres Holdings Corp. approved yesterday the change of its corporate name to Lopez Holdings Corp.

In a report to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Benpres said the change, which shall be subject to the approval of its shareholders in its scheduled annual meeting on June 10, identifies the company more clearly as part of the Lopez Group.

The Lopez Group is “known for generations in Philippine business for the practice of enduring values – pioneering entrepreneurial spirit, business excellence, nationalism, team work, strong work ethic, integrity, proven social justice, and concern for employee welfare and wellness.”

Benpres was taken from the names Benito and Presentacion, parents of the late Eugenio H. Lopez Sr. who founded the modern day Lopez Group.

A 2009 TNS survey, supervised by ABS-CBN Research, showed that the public distinctly associated the Lopez family with helping people and communities, as well as with delivering quality products and services. However, the same survey showed that the name ‘Benpres’ had little affinity with the Lopez Group.

“To be known as Lopez Holdings creates a lot of positives for the subsidiaries. It represents a better identification and a showing of its capital strength, and better shareholder value,” said Cesar E.A. Virata, an independent director of Benpres.

Benpres is the parent company of multi-media conglomerate ABS-CBN Broadcasting Corp. and First Philippine Holdings Corp., a holding company with investments in power generation, power distribution, manufacturing and property.

Benpres achieved a breakthrough in its seven-year debt restructuring exercise in 2009 by buying an aggregate of $287 million in debt from certain creditors.

Net earnings of Benpres grew more than four-fold last year to P11.9 billion in 2009 from P2.9 billion in 2008. Revenues rose 11 percent to P24.85 billion in 2009 from P22.31 billion.

The increase is attributable to the recorded P7.5 billion net gain from buying back an aggregate of $287 million in debt from certain creditors of Benpres during the period under review.

Also contributing to the higher net income was the company’s share in earnings of First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC), which substantially increased because of the sale of its 20 percent ownership in utility giant Manila Electric Co. (Meralco).

Equity in net earnings of associates rose six times to P4.2 billion year on year as FPHC reported a P9-billion gain on the sale of a portion of its shares in the country’s largest power distributor.

FPHC sold 223 million Meralco shares in 2009 for P20.07 billion. It sold an additional 74.7 million Meralco shares, or 6.6 percent of Meralco, in March 2010 for P22.41 billion.

Benpres likewise received a total of P823 million dividends in 2009 from investees ABS-CBN, FPHC and Rockwell Land Corp. In August 2009, Benpres sold its stake in Rockwell Land and shares of Digitel, which were part of its portfolio in 2008.