CPG’s pre-sales down 34% in first half,improves in second quarter

CENTURY Properties Group Inc.’s pre-selling of condominium units declined in the first semester year-on-year but sales take-up improved in the second quarter compared to the first on robust demand from overseas Filipinos.

CPG disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Tuesday that it had registered a 46 percent quarter-on-quarter increase in its pre-sales to P4.49 billion from P3.07 billion in the first quarter. The company cited strong demand from the overseas Filipino market alongside the robust take-up of for-sale office condominium units.

For the six-month period, CPG’s pre-selling value of P7.56 billion fell by 33.7 percent from the P11.4 billion worth of pre-sales in the same period last year. This was because the company did not launch as much projects in 2014 as it did in the previous year. By holding back inventory, the company also sold less this year. Instead, the company focused on selling the inventory created in previous years.

CPG’s six-month pre-selling data mirrored the decline in the pre-selling of residential units across the domestic property industry this year. Sales take-up in Metro Manila fell by 23 percent year-on-year in the first semester, based on data from property consulting firm Colliers International.

But while property developers sold fewer residential units in Metro Manila in the first semester than a year ago, they put up 13 percent more units for sale during the period.

For CPG, record launches in 2013 – such as the rollout of nine buildings in its Azure urban resort project in Paranaque – boosted sales in 2014. Of its current inventory of launched projects, around 90 percent had been pre-sold, in terms of number of units.

For the second quarter of this year, the improvement in sales take-up compared to the first quarter was attributed to Century Spire Offices at its flagship Century City in Makati City, Bahamas tower at the Azure Urban Resort Residences in Paranaque City, and Quezon South tower at The Residence at Commonwealth by Century in Quezon City.

“We continue to have a positive outlook on the Philippine real estate industry and remain in a high growth mode,” said Kristina Garcia, CPG director for investor relations. “Our optimism, however, is calculated. We will enter markets where there is determined demand, albeit where there is a serviceable gap between supply and demand,” Garcia said.

For the first half of 2015, CPG has completed three projects: Commonwealth Osmeña West Tower, Acqua Niagara Tower and Azure Positano Tower. These projects are 98 percent taken up as of June 2015.

CPG is now focused on completing 22 vertical developments in the near to medium term, which will total 770,000 square meters of gross floor area. For 2015 alone, it will complete six towers with close to 3,000 units, of which 97 percent had been pre-sold and were worth P15.78 billion in total sales.

In addition to its condominium and for sale office developments, Century Properties continues to build its recurring income portfolio, which will be comprised of retail and office spaces summing up to 193,000 square meters of gross leasable space by 2019.

For the first six months of this year, CPG’s net profit was flat at P1.01 billion compared to P1.06 billion in the previous year.