Market Talk (ALI, MBT, GTCAP, JFC)

Property: ALI lists seven-year bonds in PDEX. 

Ayala Land Inc. (ALIBUY) listed yesterday PHP7b worth of bonds at the Philippine Dealing Exchage. These bonds are due 2022 carrying a fixed rate of 4.5%. ALI plans to raise PHP15-20b worth of debt for 2015 to partly finance its capital expenditure of PHP100b for the year. Property: ALI plans to build their largest mall in Parañaque. Ayala Land Inc (ALI-BUY) president Bernard Vincent Dy said they plan to build their biggest mall complex in Parañaque City. The mall will rise from nine hectares of land and will be leased with a term of 45 years. There will also be a 12-storey hotel and office buildings for business process outsourcing. This new mixed-use estate is not yet in our estimates and we believe it will be NAV-accretive and consistent with their 2020 Vision strategy. We maintain our BUY rating. Our forecasts will be revised for the inclusion of this new development. 

Banks: MBT targets 18%-20% loan growth. 

Metrobank (MBT – BUY) is looking to grow its loan portfolio by 18%-20% this year with focus on the middle market as well as small and medium enterprises. MBT likewise plans to add 30 branches annually in the next three years through organic growth. Currently the bank has 920 branches nationwide. 

Conglomerates: GTCAP enters into JV with ALI. 

GT Capital Inc’s (GTCAP – BUY) property unit Federal Land reportedly entered into a JV with Alveo Land Corp, a subsidiary of Ayala Land Inc (ALI – BUY). The JV will develop a 45ha property in Laguna as a master-planned residential community. The Laguna landbank owned by the Ty Family is only a few kilometres away from the proposed Cavite-Laguna Expressway and in the general vicinity of ALI’s Westgrove Heights and NUVALI projects. ALI has not confirmed the JV. 

Cement: 1Q15 cement sales up 9.6%. 

The Philippine Star reports Philippine cement sales grew 9.6% YoY in 1Q15 to 5.7m tons, according to Cement Manufacturers Association of the Philippines. Growth was driven by both public and private sector spending. In 2014, total cement sales also grew 9.6% YoY to 21.3m tons. 

Consumer: JFC not affected by potential ban on US chicken importation. 

The Manila Times reports the government is mulling the imposition of a ban on importation of chicken from the United States, following the avian flu outbreak in certain states. We believe the potential ban would have no material effect on Jollibee Food Cor (JFC–BUY) as the company normally sources its chicken requirements from local suppliers. 

- Maybank ATR