Robinsons Land cited as best managed

After playing second fiddle to bigger and older real estate firms for the past two decades, Robinsons Land Corp. is moving up in the corporate scene.

The property arm of billionaire John Gokongwei emerged as the top choice of money managers from major investment houses in a Euromoney magazine poll of the best-managed companies in Asia.

Robinsons Land president Frederick Go, a nephew of Gokongwei, said he and his team were “thrilled” that their efforts to mold the company into the country’s premier real estate firm did not escape stock analysts’ attention.

“We’ve been playing behind the shadows of more established players in the real estate industry since we began in the 1990s with our first project. Property development is also not the bread and butter of the JG Summit group, which is more known for its industrial roots. This award validates our efforts to excel in our field and in our group,” said Go in a phone interview.

Euromoney’s annual company ranking is based on last year’s survey of 130 leading equity analysts at the largest investment banks and research houses in the Asia Pacific region.

A total of 207 companies were nominated, with analysts grading them according to management accessibility, accounting transparency and corporate governance procedures, among other yardsticks.

Robinsons Land was cited by Euromoney for its leading role in promoting transparent communication to investors with its “clear strategy and good visibility.”

Analysts also noted that Robinsons Land’s senior management “is open to all questions and requests from investors and analysts regarding the company’s performance and external relations are properly managed.”

“We pride ourselves in being transparent to our stockholders as much as possible because we are proud of what we do,” Go said.

With its portfolio of 32 malls, eight office buildings, nine hotels, 59 residential condominiums and 32 housing subdivisions, Robinsons Land has established a track record of being a trusted brand with its successful project launches and on-time completion, according to Go.

Market investors made Robinsons Land the highest gainer among stocks in the Philippine Stock Exchange index, with an 83.63 percent gain in its share price from Jan. 2 to Dec. 28, 2012.

Robinsons Land profit rose 10 percent to P3.36 billion on the back of a P10.56-billion revenue that also grew 10 percent in the first nine months, ending June 2012. Half of its revenue came from shopping malls (P5.17 billion) and  nearly a third came from residential projects (P3.31 billion).

This is the 14th annual ranking of the best-managed and -governed companies in Asia that Euromoney has published and is seen as the benchmark survey of the opinions of equity analysts in the region.

Clive Horwood, editor of Euromoney magazine, said: “Asia’s best-managed companies are taking advantage of their country’s world-beating growth rates to focus on integration and expansion while peers from other parts of the world are distracted by the tough global environment.