D.M. Wenceslao & Associates, Inc. (DMW) said its project development is still in progress, as it hopes the country may see economic recovery by the middle of next year.
“We have not slowed down our development pipeline, we’re still on track to hand over around 70,000 square meters (sq.m.) of new commercial space this year and another 70,000 sq.m. next year,” DMW Chief Executive Officer Delfin Angelo C. Wenceslao told ABS-CBN News Channel’s Market Edge on Monday.
Meanwhile, the hospital it plans to build with St. Luke’s Medical Center is still in the planning stage. The two entered into a memorandum of agreement in February last year, allowing St. Luke’s to construct its hospital in a 1.5-hectare site in the company’s flagship project, Aseana City in Parañaque.
Its mixed-use Parqal development, which is also located in Aseana City, is also scheduled for completion next year.
“I think this project is highly relevant right now,” Mr. Wenceslao said. “We predicted that there’s going to be a lot of demand for people who want to be in a campus-type development and have access to world-class public space.”
The company will not be joining the real estate investment trust bandwagon anytime soon, he said.
“From a funding standpoint, we still have actually quite a big chunk of our IPO (initial public offering) funds left, roughly 30%, and we still have a lot of untapped credit lines,” Mr. Wenceslao said.
“I think it’s something that we would probably take a look at once more of our development pipelines finish so we would want to be sure that it’s a sizable issue,” he said.
The property developer raised P8.15 billion from its initial public offering (IPO) held in 2018. Its net proceeds reached P7.6 billion, of which 49% were planned to be used to fund projects for Aseana City. It planned to use P2.9 billion for land acquisition and P1 billion for infrastructure development.
On Monday, DMW shares at the stock market inched down by 0.14% or one centavo to close at P6.98 each. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte
