DoubleDragon nets P376M

Edgar “Injap” Sia II

Property developer DoubleDragon Properties Corp.’s first semester net profit surged by 161 percent year-on-year to P376.4 million as revenues were boosted by rental income.

For the second quarter alone, DoubleDragon’s net profit increased by 110 percent year-on-year to P210.7 million, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Consolidated revenues for the six-month period amounted to P1.6 billion as recurring revenues, increased more than four times year-on-year to reach P473.3 million for the first six months. Recurring revenues were a combination of rental revenues from the company’s retail portfolio as well as hotel revenues from DoubleDragon’s recent acquisition of Hotel of Asia Inc. (HOA).

HOA, which serves as the company’s hospitality arm, is growing its two hotel brands, Hotel101 and JinJiang Inn Philippines and aims to have a combined total of 5,000 hotel rooms by 2020.

DoubleDragon currently has 20 operational malls, including 18 CityMalls, all of which posted above 95 percent occupancy rate. Twelve more CityMalls are expected to open before the end of the year, together with DoubleDragon Plaza that consists of a retail strip and four office towers.

DoubleDragon Plaza will add about 136,000 square meters of operational leasable space to the its portfolio by the end of the year. DoubleDragon Plaza is only the first of four phases that will comprise the company’s flagship project DD Meridian Park in the Bay Area. Once fully completed, DD Meridian Park will deliver about 280,000 square meters of leasable space by 2020.

The company likewise has increased its 2020 leasable portfolio target from one million square meters to 1.2 million square meters comprised of 700,000 square meters from 100 CityMalls, 300,000 square meters from its Metro Manila office projects DD Meridian Park and Jollibee Tower, 100,000 square meters from the planned 5,000 hotel rooms of Hotel101 and JinJiang Inn Philippines, and another 100,000 square meters from the company’s latest venture into industrial leasing.

DoubleDragon has also upgraded its 2020 net income target to P5.5 billion from P4.8 billion while announcing a follow-on equity offering which aims to enhance trading liquidity and further strengthen its balance sheet with higher equity levels. The offering aims to bring in a good base of institutional investors to strengthen its position in the international investment community in line with its aspiration to be included as one of the blue chip stocks in the main-share Philippine Stock Exchange index in the near term.

“We have always believed in the power of careful planning coupled with sheer focus and passionate execution which we put into action in building DoubleDragon. The DoubleDragon team will continue to develop and nurture its four pillars of growth, which comprise of retail leasing, office leasing, industrial leasing and the hospitality business. The company is focused in areas of the real estate industry where it can achieve a lasting dominant position,” said DoubleDragon chair Edgar Sia II.