Ayala unit aims for dominance in local real estate logistics

From BusinessWorld

AYALALAND Logistics Holdings Corp. (ALLHC) is aiming to be a “dominant player” in the real estate logistics sector, taking note that the sector has become a “favorite” among institutional investors globally.

 

In a webinar hosted by BPI Trade on Monday, executives of ALLHC said the real estate logistics sector has “strong” growth opportunities.

 

“In the Philippines, real estate logistics is a fragmented market, it’s been that way, and we think it’s actually exciting for ALLHC because it’s an opportunity for us to consolidate and become the dominant player in real estate logistics as a sector,” ALLHC Chairman Jose Emmanuel H. Jalandoni said.

 

“If you look at real estate logistics globally, this is actually a favorite sector. It’s attracting a lot of institutional investors because of its high-growth potential, because of strong secular trends on e-commerce, because of data centers,” he added. 

 

The company said it is capitalizing on “secular drivers.” It is “trying to execute locally” what is happening abroad.

 

“If you look at other countries, developed countries, real estate logistics is actually very much consolidated,” Mr. Jalandoni said. “Large real estate logistics companies are actually operating in countries like Japan, the US, Australia… these are big companies backed up by institutional investors and the leading players in their respective regions.”

 

ALLHC is targeting to expand its presence to 10 key areas across the country. It is currently present in Manila, Laguna, Cavite, Pampanga, and Laguindingan in Northern Mindanao.

 

The company said it also aims to grow its warehouse gross leasable area (GLA) to 500,000 square meters (sq.m.) by 2025 from its current 224,000 sq.m.

 

Its core business segments include industrial and logistics hubs, warehousing, cold storage, and data centers.

 

“For the industrial parks, we are the only industry player that presently expands geographically,” ALLHC President and Chief Executive Officer Maria Rowena M. Tomeldan said.

 

“For the warehouses and for real estate logistics, there are so many small players, but I guess it is our group that is able to consolidate and look at all aspects from dry storage, to cold storage, and now we also have data centers, which is the industrial real estate space or the real estate logistics space globally,” she said.

 

ALLHC aims to further grow its cold storage business. It also plans to further capitalize on the continuous growth of the e-commerce market, as well as the rising demand for data centers.

 

The company is looking at offering fulfillment hubs, first through its Tutuban Center.

 

ALLHC and Ayala Corp.’s newest firm, AC Logistics Holdings Corp., is said to “complement” each other.

 

“[AC Logistics is] really focused on the supply-chain solution, they are really focused on the management of warehouses and that includes all the other aspects related to logistics, while we are focused on real estate logistics,” Ms. Tomeldan said. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte