[ philstar.com ]
By Zinnia B. Dela Peña Updated April 01, 2009 12:00 AM
MANILA, Philippines - Fil-Estate Land Inc. (FELI) incurred a net loss of P37.4 million in the first quarter of its fiscal year ending September 2009, a reversal of the P8.51-million net profit reported in the same period a year earlier.
This net loss translated to a loss per share of P.0112 compared with earnings per share of P.00254 last year.
The turnaround was due to higher cost of sales even as its revenues more than doubled to P181.23 million on the back of improved service and rental income.
Cost of sales jumped to nearly P100 million, or more than two times the P40 million recorded a year ago.
With the company’s continued effort to cut costs, general and administrative expenses fell 10 percent to P86 million.
As of end–2008, FELI had a total asset base of P15.01 billion, slightly lower than the year ago level.
To ride out the current economic slowdown, FELI said it intends to focus on the socialized, low cost and affordable housing markets where demand is strong.
While focus will be on these markets, the company shall also address the niche markets for high-end leisure projects in Boracay, Camp John Hay, Tagaytay and Nasugbu.
FELI said it would continue to work with banks for end-buyer financing for its projects. It intends to utilize these facilities to convert receivables from in-house sales into cash.
These facilities will allow the company to come up with competitive terms to buyers, FELI said in a financial report filed with securities regulators.
FELI is eyeing to raise up to P1.5 billion from the sale of assets to complete some real estate projects, pay down debt and fund its shift to socialized or affordable housing.
The company has one of the largest landbanks among the country’s property developers, with over 1,000 hectares of wholly-owned and 2,940 hectares of joint venture properties.
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