Billionaire Enrique K. Razon Jr. on Thursday said his companies are focused on preserving cash and shoring up profitability despite the adverse impact of the pandemic on businesses.
Razon said both port operator International Container Terminal Services Inc. (ICTSI) and integrated resort and casino operator Bloomberry Resorts Corp. will continue investing in the “barest minimum” as its way to survive the pandemic but “the road to recovery will be a rocky one.”
“At Bloomberry, we will maintain prudence in the management of our operating costs and balance sheet by accounting for the worst-case scenario. That is, we recognize the possibility of remaining in a prolonged pandemic situation for the rest of this year,” Razon said during the company’s stockholders’ meeting.
“Our management team is focused on bringing revenue and profit levels back up in spite of the limitations, while remaining conscious of our cash preservation goals.”
He said Bloomberry, which operates Solaire Resort and Casino, upsized one of its existing credit facilities to make available a P20-billion credit line that will help the company outlive the pandemic.
“Our management approach and efforts have given us room to continue work on key capital projects at Solaire and in Quezon City. Work on Solaire North continues, but the pace has slowed since various health and safety measures have been set up to protect our workers,” Razon said.
“Despite tough construction conditions, we look forward to delivering a high-quality product by 2023, in time for a potential strong economic recovery that usually follows a crisis and the return of international travel and tourism.”
For ICTSI, Razon said it allocated some $250 million in capital expenditures (capex) for this year, still higher than last year’s actual spend of $198.7 million on, among others, the new terminal in Cameroon and the reinstitution of postponed capex in a number of terminals.
This year’s capex, meanwhile, will be spent to complete the expansion project of its flagship port the Manila International Container Terminal, the ongoing expansion at Matadi Gateway Terminal in Congo, the new expansion project at VICT in Australia, equipment acquisitions and upgrades and for various maintenance requirements, Razon said.
Both ICTSI and Bloomberry led the private sector in the procurement of the Moderna Covid-19 vaccine, the largest combined national government, local government and private sector order of a total of 20 million doses.
“When deliveries arrive at the end of the second quarter, we shall immediately roll out our vaccination program for employees, their direct dependents and extended household members. In the meantime, we continue to be alert and prepared to adapt quickly as new information and challenges arise. We are certainly not letting our guard down,” he said.
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