CHELSEA Logistics Holdings Corp. (CLC) is scheduled to break ground next month a new warehouse in Taguig City, as part of its logistics business expansion.

“We intend to ground break by next month. Construction can run around 10 months… It’s an almost 3-hectare property which will cover the whole thing,” CLC President Chryss Alfonsus V. Damuy told reporters on the sidelines of the 2GO Group, Inc. annual stockholders’ meeting last Apr. 11.

Mr. Damuy said the Dennis A. Uy-led company is bullish on its logistics business this year, with a bulk of its capital expenditure (capex) to be spent to boost this segment.

“I think on the share, the biggest chunk of the capex will go more on the logistics side. Because we’re really seeing the opportunity in logistics even higher growth, higher margin,” he said, without disclosing the capex figure.

Mr. Damuy noted the new facility will cost CLC a total investment of between P2.5 billion to P3 billion, the biggest portion of which will go to land acquisition.

“The location is fantastic. Just imagine your warehouse in C5, it’s almost in the heart of the city,” he added.

The Taguig warehouse will be operated by Worklink Services, Inc. and is targeted to open by first half of 2020.

Aside from the new facility in Taguig, Mr. Damuy said the company is “in talks with some warehouse owners outside Metro Manila,” particularly in Cagayan and Davao, to lease space.

Meanwhile, the shipping segment of CLC is expected to get a lift from two new ships expected to be delivered this year.

“We have two ships scheduled to arrive this year. One in April, the other one in November. Both are ropax (roll-on, roll-off passenger vessels),” Mr. Damuy said.

He noted the company is looking to use the ships to add a new route in the Visayas.

The company said in February it was considering a bond offer to raise up to P7 billion to fund its expansion plans this year.

In 2018, CLC posted a net loss of P550.53 million from a net income of P161.2 million in 2017 due to losses in its shares in 2GO Group, bigger expenses and higher interest rates. — Denise A. Valdez

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