MANILA, Philippines — Tycoon Anthoni Salim, chairman of Hong Kong-listed investment holding firm First Pacific, took fifth place in Forbes’ list of Indonesia’s 50 richest, thanks to strong contributions from his Philippine businesses.
Salim’s wealth grew to $10.3 billion in 2023 from $7.5 billion a year ago, largely due to the public sale in July of Indonesian copper and gold miner Amman Mineral Internasional and the strong performance of Philippine businesses, including telco giant PLDT and Metro Pacific Investments Corp.
Salim, 74, heads the Salim Group which has investments in food, retail, banking, telecom and energy.
Aside from mining, Salim is also aggressively expanding his infrastructure play through listed toll road operator, Nusantara Infrastructure, Forbes said.
“A consortium led by Salim’s Hong Kong-listed firm First Pacific took the infrastructure company’s Philippine parent, Metro Pacific Investments, private in October, acquiring a 19 percent stake for $500 million. Weighed down by debt, Nusantara Infrastructure reported losses in the first nine months of this year and recently sold its one-third share in a toll road to Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund GIC for $210 million,” Forbes said.
Salim’s fortune extends to the Philippines. His First Pacific has stakes in PLDT, Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Manila Electric Co., PacificLightPower, Maynilad, Metro Pacific Tollways, Philex Mining Corp. and PXP Energy.
He was in the Philippines recently where he met with his business partner in the Philippines, MVP Group chairman Manuel V. Pangilinan, and other Filipino tycoons including MPIC’s new director Ramon Ang, president and CEO of San Miguel Corp.; Lance Gokongwei, chairman of the Gokongwei Group; and Federico “Piki” Lopez, chairman and CEO of First Philippine Holdings Corp.
MPIC, the now re-privatized tollways and infrastructure conglomerate, reported a consolidated core net income of P16.2 billion during the January to September period, up by 37 percent, driven by power and higher water tariff for the water concession.
Pangilinan, its chairman, president and CEO, said the company’s consistently strong performance reflects significant volume increases for core businesses on power, toll roads, and water, bolstered by favorable tariff adjustments and savings resulting from operational efficiencies.
PLDT, meanwhile, reported a nine-month net income of P27.88 billion, up by one percent as the company continuously increased revenue while cutting costs.
Total revenues rose to P156.36 billion, up by three percent compared to the same period last year, while expenses declined by 14 percent to P116.59 billion.