AYALA Land, Inc. (ALI) is pushing a leasing business and refinancing strategy as part of a broader effort to sustain earnings growth amid softer residential markets.
President and CEO Anna Ma. Margarita Bautista‑Dy framed the company’s 2025 performance as evidence of sharpening capital discipline and portfolio repositioning.
In a briefing last week, Dy noted that despite 40 percent fewer residential launches, their products sustained demand well beyond their initial launch cycles and sales teams managed to extract more value from existing inventory, improving capital efficiency.
Chief Financial Officer Jose Eduardo A. Quimpo II highlighted the company’s financial position in 2025, noting that total debt as of December 2025 stood at P3.18 billion, up 13 percent from the prior year.
“We have kept our average maturity stable at 4.6 years, with an average borrowing cost of 5.5 percent,” he said.
“Over 70 percent of our debt is fixed and just under 30 percent is floating... Our balance sheet remains strong, with a net gearing ratio of 0.78 to 1, cash and cash equivalents at P19 billion, and stockholders’ equity up 7 percent to P380.5 billion."
For this year, the company is looking to spend between P70 billion and P80 billion, with over a third earmarked for leasing projects across malls, offices, and hospitality assets in a strategic shift toward recurring income streams.
“The biggest driver of earnings growth in 2026 will be leasing,” Dy said, adding that many renovated malls and hotels were now operational and poised to deliver stronger financial performance.
She said Ayala Land expects rental growth of from 15 percent to 20 percent from flagship mall reinventions and 10 percent to 20 percent room rate increases from refreshed hotel properties.
As for expansion, the company intends to open over 200,000 square meters (sqm) of new retail gross leasable area and 70,000 sqm of new office space, with Dy highlighting recently signed leases with big multinational firms in key growth centers like Quezon City and Cebu as signals of confidence in the office leasing market.
“The reopening of The Mantle in Portento in the fourth quarter will add 276 hotel rooms and restore five‑star hospitality presence in Makati after more than a decade,” she added.
The company also plans to scale its cold storage business to double current capacity over the next few years, while residential launch activity is expected to remain stable.
Dy said P30 billion worth of new residential launches are scheduled for 2026, adding:
“We’re focusing on projects with high conviction on value proposition and sales momentum to protect margins and maintain market leadership.”
She said the company was keeping a 30 percent dividend payout ratio and planned to declare a special dividend funded by proceeds from its commercial asset sale to reward shareholders while reinforcing financial flexibility.
Ayala Land shares on Friday rose P0.55, or 2.66 percent, to close at P21.25 each.