Vol. XXI, No. 193 [ Business World Online ]
Friday, May 2, 2008 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES
HIGHER REVENUES from real estate sales amid tight competition boosted the 2007 net income of mid-income homebuilder Empire East Land Holdings, Inc.
In a financial report, the company said it had posted a consolidated net income of P307.98 million last year, up by a quarter from P246.81 million a year earlier.
Empire East traced the growth to real estate sales that improved to P1.8 billion from P1.2 billion in 2006.
The listed firm said the sales had come from projects such as California Garden Square in Mandaluyong City, Xavier Hills and Greenhills Garden Square in Quezon City, The Cambridge Village in Cainta, Rizal and Laguna Bel Air projects.
Revenues from real estate sales were directly proportional to the company’s realized gross profit, which went up by 44% to P252 million from P174.7 million.
Operating expenses likewise went up to P1.22 billion from P826.4 million in 2006 due to aggressive marketing and development costs.
Empire East is a subsidiary of Andrew Tan’s property arm Megaworld Corp. It develops residential projects along EDSA and other major arteries in Metro Manila.
"The company believes that its experience and track record in the realty business, together with its ability to innovate and address the growing needs of the broad mid-market sector, serves as its advantage over its competitors," Empire East said in a statement.
Cash and cash equivalents slightly increased to P943 million from P928 million due to higher sales. Total assets, on the other hand, went up to P15 billion from P13.6 billion.
"As the real estate market is currently in the midst of a bullish, upward swing, the company expects favorable prospects in the years to come," Empire East said.
For this year, Empire East will develop a new project in Makati named San Lorenzo Place, for which the company will use funds from the sales of shares to stockholders in the first quarter. — Lovely Nica P. Lee
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