Conglomerate Ayala Corp. said Tuesday it is on track to raising $1 billion from divestment and joint venture partnerships by 2023.
Ayala chief finance officer Alberto de Larrazabal said in a forum organized by BPI Securities that the conglomerate has executed P27 billion of value realization as of January 2022.
“We are on the way to hitting our target of P50 billion [$1 billion] by 2023. As of January this year, we were able to execute P27 billion of value realization initiatives,” de Larrazabal said.
De Larrazabal said the company woiuld redeploy proceeds from the divestment and reinvested in value-enhancing opportunities, including share buyback, investment in core business and funding requirements in emerging businesses.
The conglomerate earlier signed property for share swap with property development arm Ayala Land Inc. The deal will enable Ayala Corp. to increase its stake in Ayala Land.
De Larrazabal said the conglomerate will scale up its healthcare and logistics businesses to create new sources of growth and value creation.
He said that for AC Health, the group would ramp up its investments in clinics, hospitals, retail pharmacy, pharma distribution and telehealth. It is also in the process of constructing a cancer hospital in Taguig City.
AC Health is expected to reach profitability by 2022 and nearly P1 billion in net income by 2025.
AC Logistics will take advantage of the rise in digital economy to expand its presence in the broader logistics supply chain, he said.
AC Logistics announced last year plans to acquire 60-percent interest in logistics provider Air21 Holdings Inc. owned by businessman Alberto Lina.
AC Logistics is expected to achieve profitability by 2023 and contribute nearly P1 billion in net income by 2025.
Ayala Group also reported that it would spend a record P294 billion in capital expenditures in 2022, up 28 percent from what it spent in 2021, as it continues to look for investment opportunities amid the pandemic.
De Larrazabal said, however, the conglomerate was approaching 2022 with “guarded optimism” over concerns about inflation rate, rising interest rates and the upcoming elections.
Ayala booked a net income of P19.4 billion in the first three quarters of 2021, up by 70 percent from a year ago, on the back of P3.5-billion proceeds from the sale of the group’s stake in GN Power Kauswagan coal facility in September.