FPHC allots P80 billion capex for 2023

MANILA, Philippines — First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPHC), the listed holding company of the Lopez Group, has earmarked P80 billion for capital expenditures this year to support the growth of its business units.

FPHC chief finance officer Emmanuel Singson said the bulk or about P60 billion of the capex would be for its power business through First Gen Corp.

About P17 billion will come from real estate businesses through Rockwell Land Corp. and First Philippine Industrial Park (FPIP), while the rest will come from the group’s manufacturing operations through First Philippine Electric Corp. and construction through First Balfour Inc.

Singson said this year’s group capex, which is higher than P51 billion set in 2022, would be funded by a combination of debt and internally generated funds.

“The FPH Group is executing its growth plan across all its platforms,” FPHC president and COO Francis Giles Puno said during the company’s annual stockholders’ meeting yesterday.

Puno said First Gen, the group’s largest earnings contributor, is bent on leading the transition to a decarbonized and regenerative energy future.

First Gen’s wholly owned subsdiary Fresh River Lakes Corp. has been declared by the government the winning bidder for the sale of the 165-megawatt (MW) Casecnan hydroelectric power plant in Pantabangan, Nueva Ecija.

Puno said the asset is expected to contribute to the group’s earnings by next year.

“It depends on the transfer, but hopefully it’s transferred before the end of the year because it will have go through some permits. But we hope for it to have full contribution by next year,” Puno said.

“The nice thing about it is it complements our Pantabangan-Masiway and project Aya. So that in combination makes the asset more strategic because it’s a total of 400 MW. The advantage is it’s all flexible capacity because it is hydro,” he said.

For First Balfour, Puno said the company, along with Hong Kong-based partner Leighton Asia, is participating in the North-South Commuter Railway (NSCR) project, which will formally break ground in the first half of 2023.

He said the NSCR contract package 3B, with an estimated value of P24 billion, involves civil engineering, tunnel construction, and building works for a railway spanning a little over six kilometers.

“We’re still vying for other segments. And if that happens, then hopefully, First Balfour will be in a situaton where they can increase their order book,” Puno said.

Aside from railway, Puno said First Balfour is also looking to secure new contracts for water treatment facilities and power plants.

As for Rockwell Land, the company is eyeing about P10 billion worth of project launches this year.

Last year, Rockwell launched a record P29.1 billion of highly marketable projects, including residential developments Edades West in the Rockwell Center Makati, the Bencab in the Rockwell Nepo Center in Pampanga, and the Bel-Air in the Rockwell Center Bacolod.

“Rockwell Land has accelerated its expansion of residential and commercial spaces in key geographical areas outside the metro, aiming to address congestion in the National Capital Region while at the same time creating spaces that are more inclusive, walkable, and environment-friendly,” Puno said.

The group’s industrial real estate arm, FPIP, meanwhile, continues to attract world-class locators and advance the economy through local job creation, according to Puno.

“What we’ll be doing is expand within the industrial park. We still have an expansion area, which is the reason why we want to evolve the industrial park into more of a township because more people like to live near where they work,” Puno said.

Puno said FPIP’s expansion area is about 200 hectares, part of which will become an industrial park, while about 100 hectares will be focused on township.