US$20-B sales in 2012? Possible says San Miguel chief

MANILA, Philippines - Diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp. is aiming to increase target sales for all units more than 60% this year, after its president and chief operating officer Ramon S. Ang said its US$20 billion (est PhP860 billion) revenue target will be achieved by end of this year.

“We are ahead to achieve the $20 billion sales. We believe that we may even hit $20 billion revenues per year. We have set internally another target but I will not say how much,” Ang told reporters on May 23.

Originally the company set its $20 billion target revenue for 2015. Last year the conglomerate brought in P535.76 billion (or roughly $12.37 billion based on a 43.31 average exchange rate).

Asked about achieving the ambitious target, Ang said, "We have been buying good companies, that’s why.”

“Madami pa kaming gagawin. Marami pang opportunity sa labas na hinahabol naming at madami pa na opportunities sa Pilipinas. Ngayon ginagaya na kami ng lahat. Habang gumaganda, hinde namin ititigil ito. We will pursue our diversification. (We will be doing more acquisitions. We have a lot of opportunities here and outside the country. Now, others are copying our strategy. We will not stop. We will pursue our diversification strategy),” said Ang.

"Oh, you have not seen anything yet," he quipped.

San Miguel has been diversifying away from its decades-long food and drinks core businesses, and into heavy industries that they expect to bring in higher yields. Their business portfolio now includes mining, energy, power, banking, toll roads, agriculture and other utilities.

San Miguel's recent acquisition was a minority stake in legacy carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL). It also recently disposed its stake in Bank of Commerce for P12 billion. It has expressed interest in key infrastructure and capital intensive projects, including the upcoming NLEx-SLEx connector link project.

“If the timing is good this year, marami pa kaming gagawin (we will do more deals),” said Ang. - Rappler.com

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