Posted on August 21, 2011 09:28:09 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
PROPERTY DEVELOPER Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. roughly quadrupled its second-quarter profits from year-ago levels on the back of higher real estate sales and rental income as well as healthy returns on its investments, a financial report released late last week showed.
Sta. Lucia Land reported a net income of P100.20 million for April to June, a 315% surge from the P24.14 million realized in the same period last year.
This, as revenues were up by 84% to P377.42 million and boosted by a P72.48-million income from investment in stocks and bank interest.
Aggressive marketing strategies and competitive marketing pricing grew Sta. Lucia Land’s real estate sales in the second quarter by 76% to P260.86 million from P148.44 million.
Higher occupancy rate of mall operations and the use of accrual accounting in income recognition more than doubled rental income from Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall by 107% to P108.09 million from P52.10 million in year-ago levels.
Expenses, meanwhile, rose by 56% to P278.87 million year on year.
The second-quarter results brought first-half profits to P299.59 million, up 465% from the P53 million recorded in the same period last year.
“The cause of this progress were the constant disposal of assets, increased in development of both horizontal & vertical projects, and efficient increase in rental income from Sta. Lucia Mall,” the firm said.
“The continuous increase in net income was mainly due to the effective execution in managing the cost & expenses, gaining significant investment income due to the favorable market condition, real estate revenue from disposal of inventories and rental revenue contribute significantly to the overall operations of the company,” it added.
Revenues from January to June rose by 51% to P735.46 million while expenses increased by 22% to P515.25 million.
In March, Sta. Lucia Land announced a five-year, P11-billion investment for new housing and commercial projects to take advantage of high real estate market demand. Ongoing projects include developments in Rizal, Cebu, and Davao provinces, as well as the construction of five residential towers at the back of Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall.
Sta. Lucia Land, formerly known as Zipporah Realty Holdings, Inc., was first incorporated in 1996.
Sta. Lucia Land shares fell by 2.44% to 80 centavos last Friday from its previous close.
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