PHINMA Corporation is allotting P3 billion for capital expenditures which will mainly be allotted for the expansion of its construction and education businesses.
During its annual stockholders’ meeting, officers for the firm said they expect a recovery in profitability of the Construction Materials Group and continued net income growth in PHINMA Properties.
PHINMA Exeutive Vice President and CEO for the Construction Materials Group (CMG) Eduardo Sahagun said this is because global supply chains and foreign exchange rates continue to stabilize and input costs decrease.
The firm also noted that, “Profitability of the education business will gain clarity as school opening schedules normalize every year. PHINMA Education schools are also expanding capacity in anticipation of continuing enrollment growth.”
“Hotels are also expected to post a strong recovery as occupancy rates and average daily rates continue to improve with leisure and business travel gaining momentum,” PHINMA said.
PHINMA Vice President for CMG’s Insulated Panel’s Division Danielle del Rosario said they are spinning off the division for insulated panels into Union Insulated Panel Corporation which will be a significant contributor to the top and bottom line of our group.
“With the rising temperatures brought about by climate change. We believe that insulated panels will soon be ubiquitous in the near future. Seeing this already adopted by our close regional neighbors and all the way across the globe,” she noted.
Del Rosario added that, “Food security is also a tantamount and growing concern and it is high time we prioritize cold chain storage infrastructure in our efforts to improve food security.”
“We're very excited about this initial project, we are in the final stages of establishing a joint venture, it will be a new company, and we expect to break ground this year, and operations should be underway by 2024 and their 2025,” she said.
While not ready to disclose their joint venture partner, Del Rosario said they are looking at a plant capacity of one million square meters of panels a year that will cater to the needs of cold chain facilities as well as the housing sector. This will require a capex of about P500 million.
For its education business, PHINMA Education Country Head for the Philippines Christopher Tan said they will be investing about P1 billion this year for the continued expansion of their schools in the country from Dagupan to Cagayan de Oro to meet the demand of a growing number of students.
The firm has also recently invested in two colleges in Indonesia and will be converting these into universities. After this, the firm aims to acquire additional properties possibly in Surabaya and Bogor with the aim of having at least 10 schools with around 200,000 students in 10 years.
PHINMA Properties is also looking to develop its first township in Western Visayas.