AREIT earnings surge 45% on new acquisitions

MANILA, Philippines — New building acquisitions helped lift the first-quarter earnings of Zobel family-led Ayala Land Inc.’s real estate investment trust (REIT) arm despite a challenged office space industry.

In a stock exchange filing on Wednesday, AREIT Inc. said its net income during the period surged by 45 percent to P1.47 billion.

Revenues likewise climbed by 43 percent to P2.11 billion.

According to AREIT, its acquisition of the new One Ayala Avenue East and West office towers, Glorietta 1 and 2 mall and office buildings in Makati City, MarQuee Mall in Pampanga province, and Seda Hotel in Palawan province boosted profits.

READ: AREIT expects office occupancy rate to remain ‘strong’

AREIT’s overall occupancy remained at 96 percent, which it said was better than the industry average.

AREIT president and CEO Carol Mills previously said the average vacancy rate in the office industry stood between 18 percent and 20 percent.

As of the end of March, the country’s first REIT company noted that its assets under management (AUM)—composed of offices, malls, hotels, and industrial land—stood at P88.6 billion.

READ: AREIT’s shareholders ratify P28.6-B land deal

The company is presently working to diversify its portfolio to mitigate vacancy risks.

In March, AREIT announced it planned to acquire P28.6 billion worth of assets from ALI and its subsidiaries via asset-for-share transactions.

AREIT will issue 841.26 million common shares at P34 each in exchange for Ayala Triangle Gardens Tower Two, Greenbelt 3 and 5, and Holiday Inn in Makati; Seda Ayala Center in Cebu, and a 276-hectare land in Zambales province currently under ACEN Corp., the listed energy platform of the Ayala Group. INQ