Ayala Corporation is confident of growth this year as it sees huge potential in electric vehicles, healthcare, energy, among others.   Officials spoke to media after their Annual Stockholders' Meeting in Makati. Jekki Pascual, ABS-CBN News

MANILA -- Ayala Corporation, one of the country’s largest conglomerates, is reviewing all its subsidiaries and units as it prioritizes where to put its resources.

AC said it wants to also simplify its corporate structure and that of its companies.

Speaking to reporters following the company’s Annual Stockholders’ Meeting, Ayala Corporation President & CEO Cezar Consing said the company will focus more on businesses that are or can be scaled up.

Some businesses like its property and energy units get bigger capital expenditures, but others have lower capex.

“All our businesses review their portfolio on a regular basis. I think right now review is probably more rigorous. You can be very very successful, but if you’re too small, should we devote capital to it, should we devote management to it,” Consing said.

Ayala earlier announced that it is targeting to divest around P50 billion worth of its non-core businesses like its stake in Light Rail Manila Corp. and Manila Water.

“We believe by the end of this year we would be able to close out P50 billion target. It’s a work in progress but clearly advancing,” said Chief Finance Officer Albert de Larrazabal.

Ayala Land is also expected to merge all its 34 subsidiaries to simplify its corporate structure. This may be completed by 2026. Ayala is also streamlining its logistics business by integrating Entrego to Air21. Other companies are also reviewing steps to simply their structure.

“You can do a hundred activities, but only a dozen of them really move the needle. Guess what, focus on that dozen… Focus on segments that really add value,” said Cosing.

Among the sectors, Consing see huge potential is in healthcare, energy, and in particular electric vehicles. AC Motors was recently rebranded as ACMobility to highlight the groups’ shift towards the EV sector. Jaime Alfonso Zobel de Ayala, ACMobility President & CEO, said they hope to become a significant player in the EV market.

“In order to create demand for the electric vehicles themselves, we need to put manpower and capital into different parts of the platform be it the charging infrastructure and potentially digital infrastructure” said Zobel de Ayala.

Zobel de Ayala also said they will be doubling the number of charging stations from around 50 to 100 by the end of the year. He is confident of the growth of the EV sector especially with volatile fuel prices. He also do not see power interruptions a major issue, as the group also hopes to expand its energy unit.

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