Posted on May 14, 2012 09:57:52 PM [
BusinessWorld Online ]
LISTED DEVELOPER Century Properties
Group, Inc. roughly quadrupled its first-quarter earnings as sales remained
robust despite concerns about mid-term surplus, it said in a statement
yesterday.
Century Properties said it recorded a
surge in its January to March net income to P453.50 million from P110.50
million in the same period last year as total revenues were more than doubled
to P2.48 billion versus P1.12 billion.
“There continues to be a strong demand
for residential property in the Philippines. We have experienced this through
our record growth in 2011 and this quarter, contrary to initial concerns about
an oversupply of units,” Jose Carlo R. Antonio, Century Properties chief
financial officer, said in the statement.
Low interest rates, slower inflation,
and a growing middle-class population has buoyed the company to make it one of
the fastest-growing developers in the real estate sector, Mr. Antonio added.
The company’s latest financial
statement, however, was not immediately made available yesterday.
Moving forward, the company is
confident that its existing land bank of 1.97 million square meters -- reserved
for planned mixed-use and tourism projects -- will be able to sustain growth in
the next five years.
Next month, Century Properties will
launch a P4-billion medium-rise project in Quezon City near Commonwealth
Avenue.
For the full year, Century Properties
expects to double its bottom line versus 2011 levels as it looks to book higher
revenues from completed and ongoing projects, translating into a likely 2012
income of at least P1.73 billion.
This year, the company is expected to
start booking revenues from the ongoing Gramercy Residences condominium, as
well as from a retail mall project in Century City, a master planned
development located in Makati City.
Century Properties, established in
1986, is a high-end developer with over 40 projects in its portfolio as of last
year.
It debuted on the local bourse late
last year by way of a backdoor listing, replacing East Asia Power Resources
Corp.
Century Properties shares were traded
unchanged at P1.50 apiece. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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