AGI benefits from strong sales in overseas markets

MANILA, Philippines — Alliance Global Group Inc. has benefited from strong sales in foreign markets amid the negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on domestic businesses.

The Andrew Tan-led conglomerate received a big boost from the increasing contribution of its foreign operations even amid the global pandemic, AGI chief executive officer Kevin Tan said during the company’s annual stockholders meeting yesterday.

“The pandemic brought us a lot of learnings – the most important of which is that it allowed us to validate the soundness of our businesses, as well as the effectiveness of the group’s strategies,” Tan said.

At the height of the pandemic and the hard lockdowns that impacted the domestic economy last year, AGI raked in revenues from its international whisky and brandy operations under Emperador Inc., which contributed the biggest share of 41 percent to AGI’s consolidated revenues during the period.

Its whisky business is held by wholly owned Scotland-based Whyte and Mackay, while its premium Brandy de Jerez operations are carried out by Bodegas Fundador in Spain.

All of Whyte and Mackay single malt whisky brands are growing in the UK, Europe, US, Canada and Asia, Tan said.

AGI’s interests span real estate developments through property giant Megaworld Corp., spirits manufacturing through Emperador; leisure, entertainment and hospitality through Travellers International Hotel Group; quick service restaurants through Golden Arches Development Corp (GADC) popularly known as McDonald’s Philippines and infrastructure development through Infracorp.

Foreign property sales, through Megaworld International, also delivered significantly for the group despite the pandemic, Tan said.

Megaworld International, the global sales and marketing arm of Megaworld, which has a presence in more than 60 countries around the world, typically contributes a quarter of total real estate sales every year.

About 50 percent of its foreign sales came from North America, with the balance accounted for by homebuyers in Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

Aside from international sales, Megaworld also derived increased contribution from its residential projects outside of Metro Manila as part of its geographic diversification strategy.

Last year’s pre-sales came mostly from popular Megaworld projects such as the Arden Botanical Village from its Arden Botanical Estate township in Tanza, Cavite; the Pinnacle from Iloilo Business Park township in Iloilo; and, One Manhattan from The Upper East Township in Bacolod City.

Tan said AGI is set to pursue more township projects outside of Metro Manila, contributing strongly to future sales, with over 4,300 hectares of developable land throughout the country.