First Holdings Chairman
Oscar M. Lopez is stepping down as chairman and chief executive officer on June 12, he announced in the company’s 48th Annual Stockholders’ Meeting.
After heading the company for close to 25 years, Oscar said, “I think that the time is right to step down from the CEO-ship of our company.” He recommended his son and First Holdings executive director Federico R. Lopez as his successor.
Oscar Lopez will take on the role of Chairman Emeritus and Group Chief Strategic Officer. “I would like to remain active as Chairman Emeritus, so that I will still be in a position to contribute to the Corporation, especially with regards to the long term strategy of this Company.”
Fresh from schooling at Harvard in 1960, Oscar joined the Manila Chronicle as publisher. He then headed Meralco Securities Corporation’s (now First Holdings) Department of Economic Research and Development. Through this department, he pioneered the creation of companies like First Philippine Industrial Corporation, which remains the only major oil pipeline operator in the country, First Balfour Inc., and Philec.
Oscar’s able leadership brought the turnaround of First Holdings from its virtual bankruptcy to the corporate flagship that it is today. “…None of the mountains I climbed have had steeper ascents or more treacherous descents, than those I have had to traverse in my career at First Holdings,” he said. Lopez successfully led the company’s diversification from power distribution to power generation, manufacturing, and property development. He also spearheaded the implementation of various initiatives in business excellence, corporate governance, and corporate social responsibility.
With First Holdings’ continued rise as a financially stable and strategically positioned company, Oscar believes that it is time to pass the torch to the next generation. In 2009, the company’s net income soared by 615 percent, as net income attributable to Parent increased to P8.5 billion from P1.2 billion in 2008.
For the first quarter of 2010, First Holdings continued to post a high net income of P24.6 billion primarily due to the P23.6 billion combined gain on the sale of Meralco shares (6.6%) to Beacon Electric Asset Holdings, Inc. and the mark-to-market restatement of its remaining Meralco shares. Even without the gain on sale, net income for the quarter would have been P1.0 billion - significantly higher than last year’s net profit of P178 million due to the surge in earnings contribution of subsidiaries.
Meanwhile, incoming Chairman and CEO Federico, is currently First Gen’s president and chief executive officer. He was appointed Managing Director for Energy in February 2008 and sits on the Board of Directors of various subsidiaries and affiliates such as First Balfour, First Philec, and ABS-CBN. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts Degree with a Double Major in Economics & International Relations (Cum Laude) from the University of Pennsylvania in 1983.
Moving forward, Federico said that First Holdings will continue to move in the direction which his father Oscar has set, that is - power generation, property development and manufacturing. The company is also preparing to go international with its power generation business, “We have a lot to do locally just revving up our investment in Energy Development Corporation by making sure it does perform…and [make] sure that the whole generation portfolio operates as a very strong portfolio.”