Japanese trading giant Mitsubishi Corp. said it remains open to teaming up with Ayala Corp. after it unloaded 8.5 million shares or equivalent to a 1.36-percent stake in the Philippine conglomerate for nearly P8 billion last month.
Mitsubishi senior vice president and general manager Yoshinori Katayama said in a letter to the Philippine Stock Exchange the sale of shares in Ayala in March was a part of the group’s portfolio management and rebalancing of assets.
“MC highly values its 40+ years of partnership with Ayala and continues to put great importance on this relationship,” Mitsubishi said.
“Our collaboration is seen in the sectors of real estate, power, automotive, etc. and MC is open to considering future opportunities to seek further collaboration with Ayala while taking advantage of the sustained growth of the Philippine economy,” it said.
Mitsubishi said that after the sale of 8.5 million Ayala shares, it still owned 54.57 million shares in the conglomerate, equivalent to 8.78-percent stake. It also owns 32.64 million voting preferred shares.
Share price of Ayala fell 1.05 percent Monday to close at P946.
The Ayala group earmarked P249 billion in capital expenditures for 2018 to support the growth of core units Ayala Land, Globe Telecom and Manila Water.
The conglomerate budgeted P51.8 billion at the parent level to fund its subscription to Bank of the Philippines’ stock rights offering and investments in AC Energy, AC Industrials, AC Education and AC Health.
The conglomerate registered a 16-percent growth in net income to P30.3 billion from P26 billion.