By James A. Loyola
DMCI Holdings, Inc., the investment arm of the Consunji family, is allotting P31 billion for capital expenditures (capex)this year, 15 percent more than the P27 billion it invested last year.
DMCI Holdings logo (Photo courtesy of www.dmciholdings.com/)
In a press briefing, DMCI Chief Finance Officer Herbert Consunji said their residential development arm DMCI Homes is getting the lion’s share of the capex at P18 billion as it ramps up project launches due to strong demand.
Semirara Mining and Power Corporation is getting a capex budget of P10 billion for the operation and expansion of its coal mines and power plants while DMCI Power is planning to spend P1.3 billion for development of power plants in off-grid areas.
Consunji said the balance of the capex will be spent by DMCI Holdings’ other subsidiaries including DMCI Mining and construction firm DM Consunji ,Inc.
He clarified that capex for both 2018 and 2019 does not include investments of Maynilad Water Services Inc. since it is now an affiliate and not a subsidiary.
DMCI Holdings ended 2018 with P14.5 billion in consolidated net earnings, a 2 percent slip from P14.8 billion the previous year.
“Our real estate, construction, off-grid power, mining and water businesses delivered healthy returns in 2018 but the weaker-than-expected performance of Semirara Mining and Power Corporation (SMPC) tempered our consolidated profits,” said DMCI Holdings Chairman and President Isidro A. Consunji.
He explained that, “SMPC faced a series of unforeseen setbacks like the prolonged shutdown of Unit 1 of Southwest Luzon Power Generation Corporation, inclement weather and China’s soft ban on coal imports.”
Excluding non-recurring income of P38 million in 2018 and one-time loss of P281 million in 2017, core net income of DMCI Holdings receded 4 percent year-on-year from P15 billion to P14.5 billion.
The P38-million non-recurring income is attributable to a P715-million gain on sale of land by DMCI Homes and P679 million share in accelerated depreciation of Sem-Calaca Power Corporation.