ALI’s Q1 profit up 17%

Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) grew its first quarter net profit by 17 percent year-on-year to P6.52 billion, driven by the double-digit expansion of the residential development and commercial leasing businesses.

Total revenue also rose by 17 percent year-on-year to P36.98 billion, Ayala Land disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday.

Property development revenue grew by 29 percent year-on-year to P25.14 billion in the first three months, driven mainly by residential revenue, which surged by 34 percent to P21.77 billion.

As an indicator of sustained growth in the residential segment, reservation sales in the first quarter went up by 16 percent year-on-year to P31.5 billion.

Commercial leasing revenue grew by 11 percent to P8.16 billion due to rising contribution from newly-opened malls, offices and hotels and resorts.

“With the sustained economic growth of our country, demand for residential products across all market segments remained strong in the first quarter of this year. Our leasing businesses also continued their steady increase in contribution, as recently opened malls and offices stabilize and start making an impact on our bottom line,” said ALI president and chief executive officer Bernard Vincent Dy.

In the first quarter of 2018, ALI raised its stake in Malaysian property firm MCT Bhd to 66.25 percent, underscoring its plans to establish its presence in Southeast Asia. MCT registered development revenue of P1.72 billion from sales and project completions during the period.

ALI also launched its 25th estate, Parklinks, a 35-hectare mixed-use development along C5.
For the rest of the year, the company plans to launch two more estates in emerging new growth centers in the country.

“We continue to introduce more sustainable mixed-use estates in the country. These estates have proven to be effective platforms for our diverse product lines and provide the backbone to create business districts and progressive communities,” Dy said.

On the leasing business, ALI is scheduled to open five new shopping centers: One Bonifacio High Street, Ayala Malls Circuit Makati, Ayala Malls Capitol Central, The Shops at Ayala North Exchange and Ayala Malls Bay Area. It is also slated to complete three new offices, namely, Vertis North BPO Tower, Ayala North Exchange and Capitol Central Corporate Center, and 782 new rooms under its Seda hotels chain and 72 new rooms in Sicogon Island Resort in Iloilo.