DOUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. has teamed up with the local unit of multinational firm Cargill for the development of industrial facilities in the country.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the listed property developer said its industrial leasing unit CentralHub Industrial Centers, Inc. has formed a strategic partnership with Cargill Joy Poultry Meats Production, Inc. (C-Joy) for the expansion of its industrial leasing facilities.
DoubleDragon said the partnership will enable Cargill to achieve its target to have about 30 hectares of industrial development space in several locations in the country.
C-Joy is a joint venture of the US-based Cargill and Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC). It currently operates a poultry processing plant in Santo Tomas, Batangas, which supplies dressed and marinated chicken for JFC brands such as Jollibee, Mang Inasal and Chowking.
“This partnership with Cargill is in line with DoubleDragon’s vision to make CentralHub the leading provider of industrial complexes in the Philippines. These industrial facilities will add a substantial amount of leasable space to our growing leasable portfolio nationwide,” DoubleDragon Chairman Edgar J. Sia II said in a statement.
CentralHub targets to have 100,000 square meters of leasable industrial space from a total of eight projects by 2020. The sites are spread out across Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
“We are very optimistic for the growth prospects of CentralHub as we expect the demand for modern industrial complexes to continue to increase significantly as more companies will require modern standardized multi-use warehouses suited for commissaries, cold storage, light manufacturing and logistic distribution centers,” DoubleDragon Chief Investment Officer Marianna H. Yulo said in a statement.
Ms. Yulo added that CentralHub has the potential to be the first industrial REIT (real estate investment trust) in the country.
Industrial leasing is one of the company’s four segments, the others being mall, office, and hotel. Mr. Sia earlier said the company will generate P10.52 billion in sales and rental income from these four units in 2019.
DoubleDragon, which is led by Mang Inasal founder Mr. Sia and JFC founder Tony Tan Caktiong, is ramping up its expansion to have 1.2 million sq.m. an overall leasing spaces by next year. This will include 100 CityMalls, 5,000 hotel rooms under the Hotel101 and JinJiang Inn Philippines brands, and eight industrial hubs.
DoubleDragon generated a net income attributable to the parent of P966.02 million in the first nine months of 2018, 19% higher year-on-year, following a 16% uptick in gross revenues to P4.72 billion.
Shares in DoubleDragon jumped 5.15% or P1.05 to close at P21.45 each at the stock exchange on Wednesday. — Arra B. Francia