FILINVEST Development Corp. (FDC), the listed holding company of the Gotianuns, wants profits to return to pre-pandemic levels this year on the back of continued growth across core businesses.

The company has not yet topped pre-pandemic levels, FDC President and Chief Executive Officer Rhoda Huang said in a recent interview, noting that "2019 was the highest."

FDC posted a consolidated net income of P12.1 billion in 2023, up 46 percent from the P8.3 billion generated a year earlier, thanks to robust improvements in all business segments.

The 2023 result — the highest since the pandemic — were still down from the P15.9 billion and P13.4 billion booked in 2019 and 2018, respectively.

Starting this year, the conglomerate is embarking on a five-year business plan to deliver an annual growth rate of at least 20 percent, Huang said when asked about their outlook and growth targets.

Although no definitive ventures have yet been identified, the FDC executive said they were looking at opportunities adjacent to the core business that "have interest in the infra (infrastructure) side."

The Gotianun-led holding firm currently has investments in real estate development and leasing, banking and financial services, hotel and resort management, power generation and agriculture.

"We're always looking for new opportunities for growth — new pillars in terms of enhancing the current portfolio," Huang has said. "We look at a diversified portfolio of investments, but we need to focus on our core. We will be opportunistic."

FDC has allocated P20 billion to P25 billion for capital expenditures (capex) this year. The budget is almost double the actual spending of P13 billion last year but lower than the P35 billion combined capex budget disclosed in April 2023.

Projects of listed property unit Filinvest Land Inc. will receive about 60 percent of this year's budget.

Ten percent, meanwhile, will go to digitalization and other businesses and 15 percent each will go toward FDC's power and hospitality segments.

Shares in Filinvest Development closed 0.18 percent higher at P5.51 apiece on Monday.