Leasing, hotels lift 9-mo CLI income to P2.3B

Cebu Landmasters Inc.

Visayas- and Mindanao-focused developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) continued to benefit from a surge in leasing and hospitality revenues in the nine-month period as its earnings grew by 7 percent to P2.3 billion.

CLI on Tuesday said its top line expanded by 9.2 percent to P14.1 billion.

Growth was driven by leasing revenues, which soared by 47 percent to P144 million after the developer added 9,219 square meters of new leasable space.

Hospitality revenues likewise swelled by 52 percent to P149 million following the opening of three new projects in the January to September period: Citadines in Bacolod City, and lyf and The Pad Co-Living, both in Cebu City.

READ: Cebu Landmasters prepares P3.25B for expansion

These added a combined 617 rooms to CLI’s hotel portfolio.

“Market absorption for our newly launched developments has been remarkably swift, with several projects selling out almost immediately upon market introduction,” CLI chair and CEO Jose Soberano III said in the company’s stock exchange filing.

CLI has so far launched P8.2 billion worth of projects this year totaling 1,664 residential units mostly in the mid-market and economic segments.

Its projects are currently 89-percent sold, reflecting the strong demand for residential units outside Metro Manila.

CLI, which is also set to expand to Luzon, plans to launch two more projects in Cebu, adding at least 1,000 more units to its portfolio.

Real estate brokerage firm Leechiu Property Consultants previously reported that Cebu was attracting more developers, specifically in the hospitality industry, as Metro Manila grappled with inventory oversupply.

CLI earlier partnered with Martinez Agricultural Corp. (MAC), which also has interests in realty, to launch a new joint venture company that would focus on developing a new residential project in Cebu.

This entailed a P373.59-million investment, with CLI owning 60 percent of the joint venture. MAC will hold the remaining 40-percent stake.