I’ve  just attended the webinar hosted by COL Financial’s April Lee-Tan with Kerwin Tan, director and treasurer of  Robinsons Commercial REIT (RCR). Fortunately COL uploaded it on their Youtube channel so here it is:

I always appreciate companies who reach out to their minority shareholders so kudos to RCR. The first takeaway is the recent announcement that sponsor RLC will be infusing 9 Robinsons Malls this year, subject to shareholder and regulatory approval. Post infusion, RCR’s EBITDA will be approximately 50-50 offices and malls. I think this is great considering the challenges faced by the office sector particularly AI’s impact on the BPO industry. Malls also derive variable rent in the form of a percentage of tenants’ sales so this provides an upside to future dividends, particularly in Q4, when malls are packed with Christmas shoppers.

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SIPCOR is the island province’s sole power provider and is rightfully being blamed for the blackouts in the area. Residents, who sometimes only have 2 hours of electricity a day, are calling for SIPCOR to be replaced. The problem is so bad that the provincial government had to declare a state of calamity. National government agencies also had to step in and bring in generators and no less than President Marcos Jr. has given the company 6 months to fix the problem.

SIPCOR is one of the two sponsor-tenants of Premier Island Power REIT (PREIT) and their failure to serve the people of Siquijor is a reflection of poor management. Prime Asset Ventures Inc. (PAVI), the parent company of PREIT and SIPCOR, is also being called out for failing to serve residents in various provinces in terms of water supply – this time through another subsidiary, PrimeWater.

As an investor, I will seriously question holding PREIT. Regardless of dividend yield, a poorly managed business is a terrible investment. It is also important to note that PREIT’s assets include not just the land and buildings but the diesel generators as well – yes, the ones that failed! Did PAVI infuse old and clunky machinery into the REIT? Que horror! Not that we lack options – renewable energy landlord CREIT is a much better choice.

Citicore Renewable Energy Corp. (CREC) is poised for significant expansion in the Philippine renewable energy sector, marked by strategic partnerships and a substantial capital expenditure. The company has teamed up with China’s Sungrow Power Supply Co., Ltd. to integrate 1.5 gigawatt-hours of battery energy storage systems (BESS) across its solar plants.

Sungrow will provide both the technology and expertise in engineering and construction design for these BESS deployments, a move aimed at enhancing the efficiency of CREC’s renewable energy facilities and supporting the Department of Energy’s energy transition initiatives by supplying mid-merit power.
In line with its ambitious five-gigawatt (GW) project roadmap, CREC anticipates a higher capital expenditure budget for 2025, earmarking more than P56 billion primarily for renewable energy projects. The company is actively working to bring its first GW of energy projects online this year, largely driven by projects secured during the government’s second green energy auction in 2023.

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