The Aboitiz Group has seen exceptional performance in the first half of 2023, showcasing its Great Transformation into the Philippines’ first techglomerate. Leveraging innovation as well as synergies across its diverse business portfolio, the Group has solidified its position as a trailblazer of industry. With a strong foundation in place, the Aboitiz Group eagerly sets its sights on forthcoming projects that promise further success and innovation.
AboitizPower
The Aboitiz Group’s holdings in power generation and distribution, AboitizPower, continues to support the country’s energy transition and socioeconomic development with its diverse portfolio of thermal and renewable energy (RE) power plants, as well as internationally certified asset management capabilities from its distribution utilities (DUs). With close to 1,000 megawatts (MW) of ongoing and disclosed energy projects, it is en route to accomplishing its 10-year growth strategy of having at least 9,200 MW in its generation portfolio equally split between RE and thermal sources of energy by the next decade. This journey includes the development of the 17 MW Tiwi Binary Geothermal Power Plant, the 94 MW Cayanga-Bugallon solar facility, and the 167 MW Laoag solar facility. AboitizPower is also looking to begin the construction of its Calatrava Solar project and Olongapo Solar project within the year. These RE investments are complemented by other developments in Battery Energy Storage Systems, like the SN Aboitiz Power (SNAP) 24 MW Magat Battery in Isabela, which much like the commercially operational 49 MW Maco Battery in Davao de Oro will help provide regulating and contingency reserve power to the country’s grids.
Meanwhile, subsidiaries Davao Light and Power Company, Visayan Electric Company, Cotabato Light and Power Company, and Subic EnerZone Corporation were the first power DUs in the Philippines to be certified with an ISO 55001:2014 certification for Asset Management, an international standard that attests to the efficiency of how they manage the lifecycle of their assets, i.e., power lines, transformers, and substations. This validates the reliability of their services and strengthens the uninterrupted provision of electricity in their respective service areas. Efficient asset management is essential for DUs to successfully manage their infrastructure and optimize maintenance and costs, thereby ensuring regulatory compliance and a reliable bridge between transmission lines and businesses, communities, and homes.
UnionBank
Union Bank of the Philippines continues on its trajectory of becoming a Great Retail Bank as it has consistently been recognized as one of Asia’s leading companies. Among the many recognitions for the 1st half of 2023 that UnionBank has reaped are: Best Retail Bank in Southeast Asia (Cfi.co), 4-time Best Retail Bank in the PH (The Asian Banker), and 6-time Digital Bank of the Year PH (The Asset).
In line with its nation-building “Tech-UP Pilipinas” advocacy, UnionBank’s strategic partnerships have been focused on digitization as an essential element for client success. UnionBank’s determination to be an enabler of the Philippines’ bid to be a G20 country by 2050 is apparent as it continues to nurture and grow its diverse client portfolio that includes Corporate, MSME, high net worth, as well as local and national government entities.
As a recognized trailblazer that embraces technological innovations that empower its customers, UnionBank together with its digital banking arm UnionDigital Bank (UnionDigital), fintech arm UBX, and thrift arm City Savings Bank (CitySavings) showcased its expertise in artificial intelligence (AI) at the first AI Summit PH 2023 last May.
The first half of the year also saw UnionBank’s commitment to offering clients amazing and exclusive experiences through partnerships with Live Nation (for world-tour concerts) and GMG productions (for the Hamilton musical).
“The investments we made last year have exceeded our expectations. UnionDigital is already profitable after less than a year in operation. There is strong momentum in the acquired credit cards business from Citi. New-to-bank card customers are at a record level. We are geared up to grow our retail banking business. Our infrastructure is ready for scale. We have sufficient capital coming from the recent stock rights offering to further grow our earning asset capital base,” said UnionBank President and CEO Edwin R. Bautista.
Aboitiz InfraCapital
Aboitiz InfraCapital (AIC) remains on track with its purpose of enabling businesses and uplifting communities. AIC Economic Estates maintains its position as the leader in industrial-anchored mixed-use development nationwide, with the largest footprint of developed industrial estates as well as the single largest privately owned industrial estate in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas– LIMA Estate. 2023 marked LIMA Estate’s 25th Anniversary, as well as the 30th year of West Cebu Estate in Cebu. These estates are undergoing industrial and commercial expansion to accommodate more locators and create approximately 90,000 employment opportunities.
For AIC’s water business units, Apo Agua can now produce safe and reliable water for the Davao City Water District’s (DCWD) water reservoirs. Apo Agua’s laboratory has also obtained accreditation for drinking water analysis from the Department of Health. AIC’s LIMA Water, on the other hand, continues to operationally benefit from its SMART Water Network, leading to reduced fuel consumption and high facility uptime.
In the digital infrastructure landscape, Unity Digital Infrastructure (Unity) completed the first closing of a total of 250 sites from its acquisition of over 1,000 telecom towers from Smart-PLDT and Globe Telecom. Additionally, Unity marked a major milestone by successfully co-locating three Mobile Network Operator tenants (Globe, Smart, and DITO) in one of its towers in Cebu. The three-tenant tower is the first in the Philippines and showcases the effectiveness of the shared tower model in support of the government’s drive to improve digital connectivity through the common tower initiative.
Furthermore, Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA) surpassed expectations with significant growth in passenger traffic, peaking at around 5 million passengers in the first half of this year, more than double the previous year. The resumption of major international routes, such as Shanghai and Taipei, and improved aircraft availability are expected to further boost traffic in the second half of the year. MCIA’s excellence in promoting the airport and in ensuring customer experience was also recognized, as it received the Routes Asia 2023 Marketing Award in the 5 million category and became the first airport in the Philippines to be accredited by the Airports Council International for its Airport Customer Experience.
Aboitiz Land
The real estate arm of the Aboitiz Group continues to innovate ways to bring more Filipinos home. Rolling out this July, the Vecino Properties app promises a new level of digitized property management for seamless transactions, with real estate tokenization to follow soon, pushing forward the Group’s Techglomerate aspirations.
The launch of a mid-rise condominium in LIMA Estate in Lipa-Malvar, Batangas is scheduled for the third quarter of the year, in line with Aboitiz Land’s commitment of developing fully-integrated communities across the Philippines.
Aboitiz Construction
Since the kick-off of Aboitiz Construction’s newest business segment, industrial maintenance services, earlier this year, the firm has sealed deals with GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation for waterproofing works, as well as with AboitizPower’s Therma South and Therma Visayas for power plant shutdown and scaffolding works.
Additionally, the firm’s Tier 1 site development project for Aboitiz InfraCapital’s LIMA Estate in Batangas will provide more than 200 job opportunities for the local communities of Malvar and Lipa City.
Pilmico
The food and agribusiness subsidiary of the Aboitiz Group, Pilmico and Gold Coin Group (Pilmico), continues to ramp up its expansions across its regional facilities and retail portfolio in the Philippines. Pilmico’s ongoing construction of the 200,000 MT feedmill in Long An, Vietnam, and the 150,000 MT feedmill in Yunnan, China, are on track to be completed by December 2023 and April 2024, respectively.
Meanwhile, Pilmico’s retail brands continue to add products and branches, serving more customers across the country. Maxime, its pet food brand, successfully launched its premium cat food counterpart for “Maxime Elite” last April. On the other hand, its retail meats brand, “The Good Meat,” reaches Batangas through its newly-opened store at LIMA Exchange. This allows them to serve more customers outside of Metro Manila.
