GT Capital looking to expand into healthcare, renewable energy, data centers

GT Capital Holdings Inc., the holding firm for the Ty family’s businesses, is looking to expand its business portfolio outside its five core segments to include healthcare and renewable energy, among others.

GT Capital senior vice president and head for investor relations Jose Crisol Jr. said the company is now looking into expanding beyond its current portfolio, which covers banking, automotive, property development, life and general insurance, and infrastructure and utilities.

“We are looking into the next decade of GT Capital as a listed company, sort of a GTCap 2.0 if you will,” he said in an investor group call with BPI Securities Corporation on Tuesday afternoon.

“What we have done is look into sectors that fit our business strategy, and what is that? It’s mainly establishing strategic partnerships, servicing underpenetrated sectors, owning the majority of the venture, and having dominance,” he added.

GT Capital’s subsidiaries include Federal Land Inc., Toyota Motor Philippines Corp., Toyota Manila Bay Corp., and GT Capital Auto Dealership Holdings Inc.

It also has shareholdings in Metropolitan Bank & Trust Co. (Metrobank), Metro Pacific Investments Corp., Philippine AXA Life Insurance Corp., Toyota Financial Services Philippines Corp., and Sumisho Motor Finance Corp.

Among the sectors being looked at is the healthcare space, with GT Capital already holding interests in the Manila Doctors Hospital through the Metrobank Foundation, which Crisol said could be the cornerstone to its entry into the sector.

“As a matter of fact, even during COVID, as I’ve said, we have been talking to counterparties. Probably, to be a bit more specific, what are we interested in? Definitely one is healthcare,” Crisol said.

Crisol said GT Capital has also been in talks with counterparties for its possible entry into renewable energy, along with data centers, as part of the company’s digitalization initiatives.

“We’re also looking into opportunities in that space, so it’s a continuing effort. We have a team that is dedicated to looking for opportunities, evaluating them, and hopefully sooner than later, we will be able to launch a new initiative related to what I just said,” he said.

GT Capital reported P23.09 billion in consolidated net income in the first nine months of 2023, reflecting 54% growth. Core net income for the period jumped 105% to P23.25 billion.

Core net income was driven mainly by Metrobank, which saw a 36% increase in its net income to P31.8 billion, followed by Toyota Motor Philippines, up 159% to P10.9 billion, and Federal Land Inc., up 176% to P1.9 billion.

Moving forward, Crisol said GT Capital is looking at increasing the contributions from Federal Land to reach mid-teens in the medium term from the current 9.0%.

“The picture that I want to paint, so to speak, is that we are now positioning our property business as the third engine so that we’re not dependent on just two verticals, which are Toyota and Metrobank,” he said.

“We are doing a lot of initiatives… to ramp up the contribution of the property business, so at a measured pace, I think we are going in the right direction,” he added.

Shares of GT Capital were last traded at P659.00 apiece, up P26.00 or 4.11% from Monday’s finish of P633.00. – VBL, GMA Integrated News