Aboitiz Power's RE push drives group's higher spending this year

Aboitiz Equity Ventures, the investment holding company of the Aboitiz Group, is increasing its capital expenditure budget by 37 percent in 2025 to P105 billion while aiming to raise P119 billion to fund these investments and pay maturing obligations.

- BY JAMES A. LOYOLA

In a media briefing after the firm's annual stockholders' meeting, AEV Chief Financial Officer Jose Emmanuel Hilado said Aboitiz Power Corporation will deploy the majority of the capex to support its renewable energy pipeline and distribution business.

"The next biggest chunk is allocated to Aboitiz InfraCapital to fund their expansion in economic estates and tower acquisitions. Then, the rest will be in Unionbank for their digital infrastructure and, lastly, in Aboitiz Foods for swine farms and the development of greenfield R&D farms," he added.

Hilado said the capex will be funded by a combination of loans and bonds and, "on top of what we have to fund in terms of the expansion, we also have a maturing AEV bond of about P5 billion and the callable bond of about P9 billion."

"But, we haven't really decided on the allocation (for bonds and loans), because the direction of interest rates, although we know that it's a downward trend, is still subject to volatility.