TAIPAN LUCIO TAN?S TWO-year-old property development arm Eton Properties Philippines swung to profitability in the first semester, benefiting from favorable property sales momentum despite a slower domestic economic growth this year.

Eton booked a net income of P40.6 million for the first half of 2009, a turnaround from a loss of P140.2 million a year ago, the company announced in a statement.

It posted revenues of P503.8 million for the first half of the year from the substantial construction of One Archers Place, South Lake Village at Eton City and the first clusters at The Manors at North Belton Communities, increasing consolidated revenue by 1,535 percent from the same period in 2008.

The company expects to recognize more revenue toward the end of 2009 with the construction of additional residential projects: The Eton Residences Greenbelt and Eton Baypark Manila.

Eton also expects to begin earning leasing income from its office projects Eton Cyberpod Centris and Eton Cyberpod Corinthian, both targeted to be operational in the third quarter. It also sees more earnings from its commercial projects Centris Station and Centris Walk, both located at Eton Centris, which will start operations on the fourth quarter of the year.

Eton Properties president and chief operating officer Danilo Ignacio remained upbeat that the improvement in sales over the first six months would continue alongside improvements in the global economy and encouraging local market conditions.

The company reported a 16 percent increase in reservation sales in the second quarter from the previous quarter, partly due to the brisk sales of the new projects it launched in April 2009.