Aboitiz to use debt, equity in Mactan Airport bid

Aboitiz Equity Ventures Inc. intends to use a mix of debt and equity to finance its bid for the P10-billion renovation project of Mactan-Cebu International Passenger Terminal under the government’s public-private partnership scheme.   Aboitiz and Ayala Corp. last week announced its partnership in bidding for the airport renovation which will expand its capacity to 8 million passengers a year.   The Mactan-Cebu airport is currently operating at over capacity on passenger volume of 5 million per year.   “Normally when we do projects like this, it’s 70 percent debt, 30 percent equity,” Stephen Paradies, AEV chief finance officer, told reporters over the weekend.   "There are a lot of parties interested, so I'm sure it will be a competitive bid,” he said, citing Metro Pacific Investments Corp. and San Miguel Corp.   He noted that the partnership with Ayala Corp. is exclusive to the airport renovation bid. Apart from that, Paradies said they have no plans in bidding for other government projects.   AEV fiscal results   The Aboitiz official said AEV’s fiscal performance is “on-track.   “So far, our first half numbers were above last year’s so I think we are on track up to at least [maintaining] last year’s [results],” the AEV CFO added.   The company posted P11.8 billion in consolidated net income for the first half of the year, up 16 percent from a year earlier.   AEV is the holding company and investment group of the Aboitiz family’s power, banking, and food businesses. — VS, GMA News