Filinvest prepares P8-billion share offering 

The Securities and Exchange Commission has approved the planned P8 billion non-convertible perpetual preferred share offering of the Gotianun Group’s holding company Filinvest Development Corp., according to a report by Manila Bulletin.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, FDC said it will have a base offer of P6 billion, consisting of six million shares at P1,000 per share, and an oversubscription option of up to P2 billion or two million shares.

The shares will be offered in up to two tranches with the Series A Preferred Shares which are non-redeemable for two year from issue date and Series B Preferred Shares, which are non-redeemable for a period of five years from issue date.

Proceeds from the offering will be used by Filinvest to refinance existing debt obligations, capital expenditures, and general corporate purposes.

FDC has tapped BPI Capital Corporation to be the sole issue manager while BPI Capital, BPI Capital & Investment Corporation, China Bank Capital Corporation, Land Bank of the Philippines, and Security Bank Capital Investment Corporation has been named as joint lead underwriters and bookrunners.

The target offering period is from July 21, 2025 to July 25, 2025.

FDC is setting a %u20B124 billion capital expenditure budget for 2025, 20 percent more than the %u20B120 billion allotted in 2024, so it can achieve a 20 percent growth for another record year.

FDC Chief Finance Officer and Treasurer Ven Christian Guce said “47 percent of that will go into the expansion projects of our real estate. These are projects that are already ongoing, just completing.”

“And then, we're looking at 40 percent will go into the expansion of the different portfolios of our segments, like hotel, investment into renewables, investments into our core power business.

“And then, 10 percent will go into digitalization and our investments into the shared services organization, which is really going to drive operational efficiencies group-wide,” he added.

Meanwhile, FDC President and CEO Rhoda A. Huang said the company’s performance is currently tracking its 20 percent annual growth target and “anything that’s higher than the current yield from the previous year is always a record.”

“This is going to be a consumption-led growth,” she said noting that there will be one to two cuts in US interest rates and two cuts in domestic interest rates plus a reduction in reserve requirements that will release cash into the banking system that will could be used to fuel growth.

Huang added that, “We believe, just given the age, the demographics of the current environment, that we will look at the consumption-led growth for the country.”

She said the pillars for FDC’s growth will be its real estate business because, even though it's soft in the National Capital Region, “it's strong actually nationwide. Other than NCR, there is demand actually for housing.”

The group’s banking unit, East West Banking Corporation is also another pillar of growth as it is a consumer-driven bank. The group’s power and water businesses are also seen to pick up once the summer sets when the heat drives consumers to use more water and electricity to cool down.

Meanwhile, for its sugar milling business, Huang said “Sugar prices now are boding well for the business. So far, we're on track.”

For its hospitality business, Filinvest is also expanding by introducing new brands and putting up new hotels as well as seeing strong performance in its hotel’s food and beverage outlets.