Aboitiz business units to play significant role in advancing business and communities in Cebu

CEBU CITY—The Aboitiz Group’s business units (BUs) in Cebu will champion the group’s refreshed brand positioning—Advancing Business and Communities—through initiatives that will help contribute to nation building and help uplift the lives of Filipinos.

In 2013, the Aboitiz Group moved its corporate headquarters to Manila, but Cebu—where the company has its roots—continued to be home for some businesses such as power, construction, land, and banking and financial services.

AboitizPower/VECO

“We remain committed to powering our country’s progress and energizing the lives of Filipinos through our balanced mix portfolio of energy sources and service excellence that our customers deserve. We will advance business and communities by providing reliable and ample power supply at a reasonable and competitive price, but more importantly, do so with the least possible adverse effects on our environment and our host communities,” Jim Aboitiz, AboitizPower Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer (COO), Distribution Business Group, said.

Planned initiatives under VECO, the country’s second-largest privately-owned distribution utility, include the creation of satellite offices in large communities for easier handling of customer requirements, the certification of its operations under ISO (International Standardization Organization) 9001 QMS (Quality Management System), the rollout of prepaid metering to allow for better budgeting and monitoring of electric bills, and the launch of a mobile application for easy access to service requests and billing inquiries.

“For 2017, the expected boost in the grid’s power supply and improvements in the market will require us to gear up our services and programs to attract more potential customers in our franchise areas,” Jim Aboitiz said.

VECO’s Underground Distribution Project from Osmeña Boulevard to P. Del Rosario Street will also continue in 2017.

Aboitiz Construction

Aboitiz Construction—under privately-held Aboitiz & Co., Inc.—also sees a busy year coming from its recent brand rename, a strategic move to leverage on the Aboitiz brand and to position the business as a full-service engineering and construction (E&C) company. Until February this year, the company was known as Aboitiz Construction Group, Inc. (Metaphil).

In 2017, Aboitiz Construction will pursue new revenue sources by expanding its client base for maintenance work projects outside of the traditional mining and shipping industries.

Further, healthy prospects are also seen in structural, mechanical, and piping works for power plants, industrial plants, and modular fabrication for both local and international markets, as well as prospects in ports and jetty construction; repeat engagement from long-time customers; new markets in site development, civil works, and subcontracted work of various public-private partnerships. Synergies with sister companies AboitizLand, Pilmico, and Republic Cement will also be strengthened.

AboitizLand

AboitizLand also expects to maintain its foothold in Cebu despite its ongoing national expansion plan and the impending transfer of its headquarters from Cebu City to Taguig City. AboitizLand will be building the Foressa Mountain Town residential development in Balamban, as well as mixed-use Gatewalk Central (a joint-venture with Ayala Land) in Mandaue City and another mixed-use project in Liloan.

Thanks to investments in a highly-capable human resource base and refined systems and processes, 2017 is poised to be AboitizLand’s ‘watershed year’—a time to launch new, exciting projects and execute strategies as planned.

CitySavings

CitySavings is expected to sustain year-on-year growth of about 20 to 30% this year via maximized partnerships with outsourced financial services provider PETNET, focus on its Mindanao business areas and microfinance business plans, and further development of other products such as its Pensionado Loans.

Parallel to its parent UnionBank’s transformation toward digitization and superior customer experience, CitySavings will also carry out digital transformation initiatives to its online assets, such as enhancing its corporate website and further improvement of its “loan ranger” technology and LoansHub 2.0 system.