WITH high hopes for growth, Aboitiz Equity Ventures, Inc. (AEV) has allocated P58.4 billion for capital expenditure (capex) this year.
The bulk will be used for its power expansion projects, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“Each of our businesses has the potential for higher financial return and growth, as well as sufficient scale and capability to deliver long-term value for all our stakeholders,” AEV President and CEO Erramon Aboitiz said in the statement.
Comprising about 75 percent of the Group’s business, AboitizPower will have a capex of P52 billion for the year.
The company is committed to increase total capacity to 4,000 megawatts (MW) by 2020.
AboitizPower aims to launch its first solar power project in San Carlos City, Negros Occidental within this quarter.
Last January, the company inaugurated the 300-MW Therma South, Inc. baseload plant in Davao, providing the much-needed capacity to the Mindanao Grid.
Unit 1 started operations in September last year while Unit 2 started full commercial operations last Tuesday.
Other ongoing construction projects include the 68-MW Manolo Fortich hydropower plant in Bukidnon, 8.5-MW hydropower plant in Isabela, 300-MW Therma
Visayas baseload plant in Cebu, and the 400-MW Pagbilao III expansion in Quezon Province.
AboitizPower also identified roughly 200 MW of potential run-of-river power projects located across the archipelago in the next five years.
In the same statement, AEV said its banking and financial services companies will have a combined capex of P968 million.
Union Bank was allotted P871 million for initiatives geared to push growth in customer businesses supported by loan expansion, P97 million for its newest remittance business PETNET for its branch network expansion, and full-blown execution of the loan origination program on behalf of City Savings Bank.
The Group’s food unit Pilmico is expanding its customer reach in Asean while diversifying operations in the country.
To this end, it has allocated P2.3 billion for the year in support of various initiatives for its flour, feeds, and farms divisions, as well as pursuing opportunities in the region.
AboitizLand is spending P2.7 billion to acquire more industrial and residential land, as it continues to expand its business outside of Cebu, and onto the national arena.