Lopez firm consolidates stake in Batangas hotel operator

Lopez family-led First Philippine Holdings Corp. (FPH) has consolidated its ownership in a hotel operator in Batangas to raise its stake in the company to 57.7%.

In a disclosure to the exchange on Friday, FPH said it invested P11.47 million to buy 3,956,853 shares in First Batangas Hotel Corp. The shares were bought from Brightnote Assets Corp., which is 10% owned by FPH.

The shares are composed of 1,384,127 common shares and 2,572,726 preferred shares, equivalent to 17.2% of First Batangas Hotel’s total outstanding shares. They were bought by FPH at P2.9 each.

“FPH will be consolidating ownership from a 40.5% current stake to 57.7% after the purchase of shares in First Batangas Hotel Corp.,” it said.

“(First Batangas Hotel) owns a hotel situated in a subsidiary of FPH, First Philippine Industrial Park,” it added.

The sale was concluded on Sept. 24 and paid in cash by FPH. It does not expect any significant impact to its financials following the acquisition.

FPH’s businesses include power generation through First Gen Corp.; power distribution through Panay Electric Co. and a minority stake in Manila Electric Co.; and property through Rockwell Land Corp. and First Philippine Industrial Park, Inc.

It also owns First Balfour Inc., First Philippines Industrial Corp. and First Philippine Properties Corp.

In the first semester, FPH reduced its attributable net income by 26% to P5.02 billion due to disruptions caused by lockdown measures relating to the coronavirus pandemic.

It is allocating P29 billion for capital expenditures in the near term, mainly to be spent on the expansion of its liquefied natural gas terminal project.

Shares in FPH at the stock exchange climbed P1.95 or 3.26% to close at P61.80 each on Friday. — Denise A. Valdez

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Article and Photo originally posted by Business World last September 25, 2020 5:36pm and written by Johannes Chua.