MANILA, Philippines—Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) posted a 14-percent growth in profit in the first quarter of the year to P620 million from P545 million a year ago, due to higher lease revenues and home sales.
In a statement, the company said its revenue during the period reached P1.933 billion, 20 percent more than the P1.617 billion registered in the first quarter of 2010.
Real-estate sales amounted to P1.357 billion, 26 percent higher than the P1.079 billion attained in 2010, and accounted for 70 percent of total revenues.
Rental income—generated from Festival Supermall, PBCom Tower and Northgate Cyberzone in Alabang— contributed P359 million, 13 percent more than the year-ago level.
“The growth in rental income is attributed to higher occupancy rates registered by FLI’s BPO office buildings at Northgate Cyberzone, as well as contribution from its newest building, Vector One, which started operations in December 2010,” the company said.
This is in line with FLI’s goal of posting higher profit this year over last year. The company said it saw the local real-estate sector still in the early stages of a boom.
The company earlier said it had set aside P12 billion for capital expenditures to fund the construction of new projects and the expansion of existing ones. The amount is more than double what the company spent last year.
Filinvest president Joseph Yap said the company would launch four low-cost housing projects, six “affordable” projects and two mid-rise residential developments this year. These would translate to P13 billion worth of sales once completed. This is higher than the P10 billion booked last year.
FLI is also undertaking expansion of its commercial operations, particularly in Festival Supermall in Filinvest Corporate City, Alabang, and construction of the first phase of Il Corso, the lifestyle retail component of Citta de Mare in Cebu.
Upon completion, these projects will add about 50,000 square meters of gross leasable area to the company’s commercial retail portfolio.—Paolo G. Montecillo