By Neil
Jerome C. Morales (The Philippine Star) | Updated May 21, 2013
MANILA,
Philippines - Waterfront Philippines Inc., Shang Properties Inc. and Grand
Plaza Hotel Corp. (GPHC), three listed property firms involved in the hotel
business, reported mixed results in the first quarter.
In a
disclosure, GPHC said its net income fell nearly nine percent to P43.81 million
as total revenues dropped nearly two percent to P184.55 million.
“The main
reason for the fall is due to lower food and beverage revenue but offset by
higher room and other income,” GPHC said.
The rooms
division improved its occupancy to 77 percent from 72 percent but average room
rates fell to P3,163 from P3,221, the company said.
GPHC owns the
Heritage Hotel Manila, a deluxe hotel that offers 467 rooms and facilities like
restaurants, ballrooms and a casino.
Meanwhile,
Waterfront’s profits fell 26 percent to P31.86 million in the first quarter due
to lower occupancy rates, pushing revenues down four percent to P495.2 million.
“The reason
for the decrease in revenue is due to the rapid rising of city hotels,”
Waterfront said.
Waterfront
operates Manila Pavilion Hotel, which is adjacent to historic sites and various
entertainment hubs. It also owns Waterfront Cebu City Hotel & Casino and
the Waterfront Airport Hotel & Casino Mactan in Cebu and the Waterfront
Insular Hotel Davao in Davao.
For its part,
Shang Properties posted a 20-percent growth in its first quarter profits to
P358.3 million.
In the first
three months, consolidated revenues jumped 54.9 percent to P1.32 billion,
driven by higher sales from One Shangri-La Place.
“Leasing
operation showed significant increment due to strong take up of leased areas of
The Enterprise Center,” Shang Properties said.
Rental also
increased due to the soft opening of new mall at the east wing of the
Shangri-La Plaza, offsetting lower rental revenue from Edsa Shangri-La Hotel,
it added.
Shang
Properties, the local property unit of Malaysia’s Kuok Group, is selling units
at the One Shangri-La Place, the company’s largest development to date.
The
residential tower, which is targeted for completion in 2014, is composed of
twin skyscrapers housing 1,304 units above the six-level Shangri-La mall.
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