ALI says leasing to propel growth this year

AYALA LAND, INC. (ALI) said leasing will be the main driver of its earnings growth this year, as the company aims to deliver over 250,000 square meters (sq.m.) of new gross leasable area (GLA).

“We will start with sweating existing assets,” ALI President and Chief Executive Officer Anna Ma. Margarita B. Dy said during a media briefing on Friday last week.

“Many of our renovated malls and hotels are now operational, and the focus shifts to consumer delight and operational excellence.”

Ms. Dy added that renovated malls are expected to deliver a 15% to 20% earnings boost from higher rents.

These include the completion of five hospitality assets, including Seda Abreeza, Centrio, BGC T1, Holiday Inn Makati, and Lagen.

The company said its flagship malls’ reinvention will wrap up by the end of June 2026 — mid-year — with the reopening of Glorietta and Greenbelt. This follows the December 2025 completion of Ayala Center Cebu and TriNoma.

“Alongside extracting value from recently completed assets, we will continue expanding the leasing platform. Leasing will account for a larger share of capital deployment as we scale malls, offices, and hospitality within our estates,” she said.

For 2026, ALI plans P70 billion to P80 billion in capital expenditures (capex), with about 38% directed to leasing projects.

“About 38% of [the capex] is going to be for our leasing projects. So, the balance is really for residential and whatever land acquisition that we still need to be paying for,” Ms. Dy said.

In 2025, the company spent P92.9 billion in capex, with 38% directed to property development, 29% to completing and expanding the leasing portfolio, 18% to estate build-out, and 15% to ongoing land acquisition commitments.

Ayala Land posted consolidated net income of P39.1 billion for full-year 2025, up 38.7% from P28.2 billion in 2024, driven by its leasing and hospitality segment and gains from portfolio management.

Leasing and hospitality revenues increased 7% to P48.7 billion in 2025 from the P45.6 billion in 2024, with growth across all segments.

Shopping center revenues grew 5% to P24.2 billion from the P23 billion in 2024, due to higher occupancy and merchant sales. Office leasing revenues reached P12.2 billion, while hospitality revenues rose 9.3% to P10.6 billion from P9.7 billion, boosted by the New World Makati Hotel acquisition.

“So, for 2026, we expect steady property development revenues and retaining our number one position, a double-digit growth in leasing revenues with the biggest ever delivery of leasing gross leasable area,” Ms. Dy said.

The company said it will add over 200,000 sq.m. of new GLA this year, and more than 70,000 sq.m. of office space in Evo City, Arca South, and Gatewalk.

“In 2026, we will open over 200,000 sq.m. of new retail GLA, the largest single-year addition in our history. We started with the opening of Arca South Mall last weekend and saw over 200,000 visitors in just the first weekend,” Ms. Dy said.

The first phase of Ayala Malls Arca South, in Taguig, combines indoor retail spaces with outdoor areas, green spaces, and basement parking accessible through nearby transport links.

“It’s really a soft opening. We’ll do a grand launch in April,” Mariana Zobel de Ayala, Ayala Malls president and ALI head of the leasing and hospitality group, told BusinessWorld. “We were very pleasantly surprised by the interest. It’s almost 90% leased out for the first phase.”

Ms. Zobel de Ayala said the second phase of Ayala Malls Arca South is expected to open by October this year.

“We’re also really excited because Makro, a grocery store from Thailand, will be opening,” she added.

In September last year, Ayala Corp. signed a deal with Thai retailer CP Axtra to relaunch Makro grocery stores in the Philippines through its subsidiary ACX Holdings.

Makro, a Dutch international brand, first entered the Philippine market in 1996 through a joint venture among SHV Holdings N.V., Ayala Corp., and Sy-led SM Investments Corp. Ayala later sold its 28% stake to the SM Group, which rebranded Makro outlets in 2009, and SHV divested its Asian Makro operations, now operated by Thailand’s Charoen Pokphand Group through CP Axtra. — Alexandria Grace C. Magno