Building Boom Leads To Soaring Net Worths For Some In Philippines

by Grace Chung, Forbes

This story is part of Forbes’ reporting on the Philippines’ 50 Richest 2017. See full coverage here.

The fortunes of 17 tycoons rose this year and accounted for nearly half of the cumulative $74 billion total of the country’s 50 richest. The gainers hailed from a wide range of sectors, from finance and media to food & beverage and logistics. But most represented were those whose interests relied heavily in property development and construction.

Below we’ve spotlighted three gainers from those sectors, as well as a debut listee, who enjoyed a particularly robust year. 

The mega builders: Michael Cosiquien and Edgar Saavedra

The cofounders of the $342 million (2016 sales) infrastructure company Megawide saw their fortunes rise by more than 45%, buoyed by a 30% uptick in the stock. This makes Cosiquien and Saavedra the 29th and 31st richest people in the Philippines, respectively.

The 20-year-old company, which is handling construction of schools, the Mactan Cebu International Airport and the country’s first intermodal transportation hub, reported a rise in construction and airport revenues over the past year.

Megawide is the largest private airport operator in the Philippines. In 2014, it won a 25-year contract for Mactan Cebu in partnership with Indian infrastructure giant GMR. It’s building a second terminal there and readying a bid for its first overseas project, in western India.

The company also operates three solar power projects, supplying 100 megawatts of electricity to the national grid.

The dynamic duo: Jose and Robbie Antonio

Robbie joins his father on the ranking this year at No. 28 thanks to his Revolution Prefabricated, a maker of factory-built luxury homes in Asia and the West that cost an average of $70,000 and $120,000, respectively.

In its first funding round in March the company raised $15.4 million from Silicon Valley VC firm 500 Startups and other angel investors, putting Revo’s valuation north of $250 million. To cater to the regional Southeast Asian market, Robbie says he’s working on affordable homes that would run $25,000 to $30,000 per unit.

The family’s flagship Century Properties, founded by Jose 30 years ago, is a developer of high-end real estate and has licensing deals with Forbes Media, Donald Trump, Giorgio Armani and Paris Hilton. It saw $130 million in revenue last year.

Last November, President Duterte named Jose as special envoy of trade to the U.S.

The newcomer: Eusebio Tanco

Shares in Eusebio Tanco’s key asset, STI Education Systems, soared 136% over the past year thanks to an expanding demand for courses in fields such as information and communication technology, and business and management. He lands on our list of the Philippines’ 50 Richest for the first time at No. 45.

The company, now with 77 schools spanning the Philippines, is breaking ground on a 10-acre property for a new campus in Davao, which is slated to open during the summer of 2018. Holding company Tanco Group also has interests in shipping, property, energy and financial services.

The debut listee studied economics at Ateneo de Manila University and got a master’s degree at London School of Economics. He started as a stockbroker.

With Sean Kilachand and Anu Raghunathan