Robinsons Land beefs up capital to P8.2B

MANILA, Philippines - Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property development arm of the family of taipan John Gokongwei, is beefing up its authorized capital stock from P3 billion to P8.2 billion to bankroll the expansion of its mall, office leasing and housing businesses.

The new capitalization will consist of 8.2 billion common shares with a par value of P1 upon approval by the Securities and Exchange Commission.

RLC president and chief operating officer Frederick Go said the expanded capital will give the company more financial muscle to support expansion.

“Our subscribed capital is almost reaching our authorized capital already. Increasing our authorized capital will give us future flexibility,” he said.

Go said RLC is putting up four new malls and refurbish existing ones next year.

As of end-March this year, RLC’s mall network stood at 29 with a gross leasable area of 811,000 square meters.

The company turned over Robinsons Cybergate Plaza, RLC’s newest office building, to tenants in May.

RLC is likewise active in the residential sector and has expanded into four brands: Robinsons Luxuria, Robinsons Residences, Robinsons Communities and Robinsons Homes. The residential projects launched in 2009 are scheduled for completion from August 2011 to January 2015.

It has 33 ongoing going projects in Robinsons Homes, having launched seven new and expansion projects in 2009.

RLC is a unit of JG Summit Holdings Inc., one of the country’s largest conglomerates with diverse interests in branded consumer food, agro-industrial and commodity food products, textile, telecommunications, petrochemicals, air transportation and financial services.