Page 61 - Forbes - Asia (October 2019)

ENRIQUE RAZON, JR.: 27.
PORT IN A STORM OSCAR LOPEZ
$460 MILLION T
The ongoing China-U.S. trade war has left ABS-CBN CORP.
Philippine billionaire Enrique Razon, Jr.’s AGE: 89
cargo terminal business, International
Container Terminal Services, or ICTSI,
blissfully unscathed. Net profit in the first 28.
half of 2019 climbed 42% to $129 million EDGAR SIA II
as revenue rose 14% to $752 million amid $400 MILLION T
increased cargo volumes for ICTSI’s DOUBLEDRAGON
operations in Australia and Mexico and PROPERTIES
the opening of new terminals in Papua AGE: 42
New Guinea. The company continues to
expand overseas and in July won a contract 29.
to manage a container terminal in Rio de
Janeiro. That performance has helped lift MANUEL
ICTSI shares 42% in the past year, helping ZAMORA JR.
boost Razon’s net worth by 31% to $5.1 $360 MILLION S
billion and lifting him to No. 4 on our list. NICKEL ASIA
Razon’s gaming company Bloomberry AGE: 80
Resorts is also expanding. In July, it broke ground on a new casino resort in Quezon City, north of Manila.
Slated for completion in 2022, it will be the company’s second Philippine casino resort after the opening 30.
of Solaire Resort in 2012. Bloomberry also plans by 2021 to build the $100 million Solaire Cruise Center, FREDERICK DY
next to the Solaire Resort, which will have retail, dining and entertainment outlets. Casinos have proved a $355 MILLION T
cash cow for Bloomberry, which posted another year of record revenue in 2018 and a 10% increase in gross SECURITY BANK
gaming revenue in the first half of 2019. Net income, however, fell 12% to 5.3 billion pesos on lower foreign
exchange gains and higher interest expenses. —Pamela Ambler AGE: 64

31.
MARIANO TAN JR.
DENNIS UY: MAKING WAVES $350 MILLION S
UNITED LABORATORIES
Dennis Uy is a man in a hurry. Through his Udenna AGE: 57
group he has, in just a few years, bought stakes in
more than 50 companies. Only 46, he now joins the
ranks of the country’s 50 richest, with an estimated 32.
net worth of $660 million. JORGE ARANETA
Uy’s ascent began in 2002, when he founded $330 MILLION S
Phoenix Petroleum, growing it into the Philippines’ ARANETA GROUP
largest independent fuel retailer. “We disrupted AGE: 83
petroleum. And maybe now telco,” he says,
referring to Udenna’s joint telecom venture with
China Telecom, Dito Telecommunity. In July, Dito 33.
Telecommunity won a license to offer nationwide TOMAS ALCANTARA
cellular service and crack the existing duopoly of $300 MILLION 3
PLDT and Globe Telecom. ALSONS CONSOLIDATED
Some worry about Udenna’s debt load of roughly RESOURCES
111 billion pesos ($2 billion), which Uy used to fuel AGE: 73
his buying binge. The group’s total debt climbed
38% last year, more than double shareholder equity. 34.
Yet Uy is unfazed. “Part of our challenges of being
entrepreneurs, especially from the province and with EDGAR SAAVEDRA
no name, is how to borrow money,” he says. Udenna $260 MILLION S
posted a profit of 2.6 billion pesos last year as sales MEGAWIDE CONSTRUCTION
jumped 86% to 95 billion pesos. AGE: 44
Next up for Uy is a possible backdoor listing of
Udenna. In January, Udenna reached a share-swap
agreement with listed telecommunications holding
company ISM Communications, in which Uy bought
a controlling stake last year. Uy is now waiting for
regulatory approval to complete the deal. “If I were
a son of a taipan, growing into this business, nobody SUP TDOWN WXFLAT
ÌNEW TO LIST 3RETURNEE
would question me,” Uy says. —Annalisa Burgos

OCTOBER 2019 FORBES ASIA | 59