Filinvest Land Expands Leasing Business to Logistics Parks
Filinvest Land Inc. (PSE: FLI), the publicly listed property arm of Gotianun-led Filinvest Development Corp. (PSE: FDC), presented its plans to expand to logistics and industrial parks as part of FLI’s recurring income portfolio to address the growing needs of logistics, light manufacturing, technology, and e-commerce companies looking to support inventory management.
FLI intends to expand its service offerings by allocating a portion of its commercial land bank to the development of industrial parks, such as at its technology park in Ciudad de Calamba. This year, FLI will commence construction of Phase 1 of New Clark City, a logistics and industrial park and mixed-use development. Phase 1 comprises 64 hectares of the 120-hectare industrial park development in New Clark City. The groundbreaking ceremony for the development is scheduled for May 2019.
Phase 1 of the industrial park is targeted for completion by 2020, with locators expected to start setting up their operations by early 2020. FLI believes the industrial park will help to serve companies within the fast-growing logistics industry, particularly in light of the recent trend of Chinese manufacturing companies expanding into the Philippines.
FLI was one of the pioneers in providing office spaces to the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector during the industry’s infancy in 2000. FLI believes the 120-hectare industrial park represents a key progress catalyst north of Metro Manila and a strategic operations hub in Southeast Asia given its close proximity to the Clark International Airport. The property will soon be accessible via the NCC-SCTEX Access Road, which is currently being constructed by the government. Construction of a second access road, NCC-Airport Access Road, has also commenced and is targeted for completion in early 2021. This 19-kilometer road is expected to link New Clark City with the Clark International Airport. The proposed Manila-Clark Rail project is also expected to connect New Clark City to Manila.
In 2018, revenue from FLI’s rental business, which includes revenue from retail malls, increased 27% to PhP5.61 billion. In 2018, FLI’s recurring income made up 46% of its net income.
FLI has been a pioneer in the Clark corridor and one of the largest landlords with its 201-hectare Filinvest Mimosa+ and the 288-hectare Filinvest New Clark City projects. It is investing heavily in its Filinvest Mimosa+ Township with an expected project lineup in 2019 that includes two office buildings, a lifestyle mall, four residential towers, a retail strip and a high end residential project. FLI’s parent, FDC, is also expected to expand its leisure offerings by adding an additional 361 rooms to the Quest Plus hotel located within the Filinvest Mimosa+ Township.
For 2019, the company is planning to spend approximately PhP30 to 32 billion in capital expenditure (CAPEX), with PhP13 billion allocated for investment properties, PhP7 billion for land acquisition and the balance for residential and township development. In 2018, FLI’s total CAPEX was PhP22 billion, with PhP12 billion going to residential and township development, PhP6 billion to investment properties and Php 4 billion to land acquisition.
FLI has been increasing its investments outside of Metro Manila, most notably in Cebu, Davao, Dumaguete and North Luzon primarily through Clark Mimosa and New Clark City.