Thursday, October 29, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
THE HIGH-end property unit controlled by the Sys more than doubled its January to September profits as demand for houses at its flagship Tagaytay Highlands remains brisk.
Based on its financial statements, the net income of Belle Corp. stood at P143 million from July to September, up from the P48 million in the same period last year. This brought nine-month profits to P301 million, or an increase of 148%.
Revenues during the nine-month period went up by more than a tenth to P1.04 billion.
Belle attributed the higher revenues to the sale of lots in the Verandas at Saratoga Hills and the Lakeside Fairways Phase 6 (Cotswold) and Phase 7 (Katsura). The company said revenues in the near future will continue to come from both projects.
Fairfield, a project adjacent to the Verandas that will be launched in the last quarter this year, will also be a major source of profits, Belle said. The new project will become a seven-hectare development with 100 to 120 lots.
The lots, averaging at 400 square meters (sq. m.) each, will sold for P7,000 per sq.m. The “contemporary suburban American style” project is expected to be turned over to buyers in 2011.
Among the company’s current projects are the first four phases of Lakeside Fairways (Kew Gardens, Terrazas de Alava, Lakeside Enclave and Tivoli Place) which are now 92% complete and more than 86% sold.
Cotswold, launched last year, is already 45% complete with more than half already sold, while the Japanese-inspired Katsura is already 39% complete and 76% sold.
Meanwhile, Belle said its investment in associated companies also helped lift profits. Equity contribution from associates Pacific Online Systems Corp. and Highlands Prime, Inc. rose by 60% to P121.9 million
Pacific Online leases online equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for lottery operations in the Visayas and Mindanao and is 35% owned by the company. Belle holds another 36% stake in Highlands Prime, a listed real estate company, which is also engaged in the development of Tagaytay Highlands.
The company is also involved in the development of the ambitious Pagcor City. It recently acquired a stake in one of the companies that will help establish the entertainment complex along Manila Bay. -- Kristine Jane R. Liu
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