(Source: Manila Bulletin | 21 July 2016)
DoubleDragon Properties Corporation is planning to raise another P10 billion from the local financial market, this time from the issuance of long-term retail bonds, to finance its construction of 1 million square meters of community malls.
In an interview after the firm’s annual stockholders’ meeting, DoubleDragon chairman Edgar Sia said they remain confident of completing 1 million sqm of leasable space by 2020 with the company already securing more than half of its needed landbank for development.
Sia said the P10 billion retail bonds will add to the P10 billion the firm recently raised from a preferred share offering.
“Most likely, we might do a retail bond towards the end of the year, towards our capex requirements for next year. Because the preferred shares that we recently raised are enough for the capex requirements now until early next year,” said Sia.
DoubleDragon chief investment officer Marriana Yulo said the company already secured over half of the needed sites for its 100 CityMalls around the country. This is equivalent to a landbank of 65 hectares but includes some land for the development of office buildings.
At present DoubleDragon already operates nine malls, comprised of Dragon 8 mall in Divisoria, and eight CityMalls. The current eight CityMalls are 96 per cent leased out.
The company is also in the midst of constructing two Metro Manila commercial office projects — DDMeridian Park in the Bay Area and Jollibee Tower in the Ortigas Center Business District.
It aims to have 90 percent of its revenue to be coming from leasable spaces comprised of the CityMalls and the two office developments.
Once completed, DoubleDragon expects 70 percent of the leasable space portfolio to come from the flagship CityMalls with the rest coming from DDMeridian Park and Jollibee Tower.
“We are trying to complete another 22 (CityMalls) over the next six months,” said Sia adding that “the opening date will have to be finalized towards the end of the year because it is our standard operating procedure to make sure that at least 70 percent of the locators, will be opened on the same day that we open the mall.”
Sia said that, “sometimes– because we don’t do retail– it’s all third party-operated mostly by our partner, the SM Group.”
— By James Loyola
Read more at http://www.mb.com.ph/doubledragon-plans-to-raise-p10b-retail-bonds/#HpSMkgfZRdZ5TirY.99
