DoubleDragon completes CentralHub facility

DoubleDragon Corp. has completed construction of its new warehouse in Cebu. This increases its total gross floor area to 1.5 million square meters ahead of the anticipated launch of its real estate investment trust (REIT).

In a stock exchange filing on Friday, the property venture of tycoons Edgar Sia II and Tony Tan Caktiong said it had finished the 5-hectare CentralHub warehouse complex. It had been fully leased prior to its completion.

According to DoubleDragon, this is part of its goal of establishing a P24.8-billion leasing portfolio and the country’s first industrial REIT.

A diversified portfolio typically enables companies planning to launch their own REITs to attract more investors and manage risk better.

In DoubleDragon’s case, it currently has residential, hospitality and industrial properties.

The portfolio of CentralHub is a joint venture company of DoubleDragon and Jollibee Foods Corp. (JFC). It includes the homegrown fast-food giant’s largest commissary and distribution center.

JFC in June 2021 acquired an initial 38.71-percent stake in CentralHub for P1.92 billion. It agreed to infuse industrial properties into CentralHub.

DoubleDragon is eyeing the stock market debut of CentralHub this year, although it has yet to disclose updates.

The company’s expansion also comes on the heels of the Nasdaq Stock Exchange listing of Hotel101 Global under the ticker “HBNB.”

With an equity value of P131 billion, Hotel101 Global became the first Filipino-owned company to debut on the tech-heavy American bourse.

See Also

PSEi inches up as Middle East ceasefire holds

The homegrown condotel chain aims to have one million rooms in its portfolio across 100 countries worldwide. It has identified 25 countries for expansion.

Apart from the Philippines, Hotel101 is also present in Spain and Japan. In May, the company said it would soon make its P137.5-billion entry in Saudi Arabia after teaming up with investment firm Horizon Group.

Under their deal, 10,000 Hotel101 rooms will be built across five locations in Saudi Arabia—Medina, Riyadh, Jeddah, Abha and Alula.

In the first quarter of this year, gains from the overseas projects of Hotel101 helped DoubleDragon balloon its earnings by 245 percent to P2.05 billion. Its top line also more than doubled to P4.45 billion. This was thanks to a 69-percent surge in unit sales to P417.4 million at Hotel101.