FLI earmarks P20B for projects

Gotianun-led property developer Filinvest Land Inc. has set aside P20 billion for capital spending this year, half of which is earmarked for residential project development.

About P7 billion is allocated for the construction of office buildings and malls, while the balance of P3 billion will be spent for land banking activities, according to a recent regulatory filing.

FLI posted a 17-percent growth in net profit last year to P3.43 billion on higher earnings from real estate development and rental portfolio.

The company reported that Filinvest One, its newly completed building at Northgate Cyberzone, is now 70 percent pre-committed, while some floors had already been turned over to tenants for fit-outs. Filinvest One is expected to start contributing to FLI’s revenue by August this year.

Three more office buildings are under construction, with Plaz@ E scheduled for completion in late 2013, and the twin buildings of Filinvest Two and Filinvest Three within 2014.

As part of FLI’s strategic goal of doubling the gross leasable area (GLA) of its business process outsourcing office buildings by 2015 versus the end-2011 level, the company has also started constructing the first of four BPO office buildings at Filinvest Cebu Cyberzone.

The BPO project is a 1.2-hectare joint venture project with the provincial government of Cebu. The first building will have a GLA of more than 19,000 square meters. When completed, the project will have a total of four buildings with a GLA of about 100,000 square meters.

For its retail portfolio, FLI is expanding Festival Supermall at Filinvest Corporate City by another 110,000 square meters, bringing the total gross floor area (GFA) to 310,000 square meters. It will also start constructing two malls, one in Tagaytay City, and the second at its Princeton Heights residential project, both located in the province of Cavite.

In the meantime, FLI’s profits last year translated to earnings per share of 14.1 centavos, improving from last year’s 12 centavos.

Total revenue last year went up by 21 percent to P11.61 billion driven by a 27-percent rise in earnings from real estate development (to P8.8 billion) and 16-percent growth in rental income (to P1.78 billion).

The increase in real estate revenue was driven by higher reservation sales generated during the year, as well as the completion of pre-sold mid-rise buildings (MRB). Doris C. Dumlao