By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated January 15, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Property firm
Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) is raising its capital spending by a fifth to P16
billion in fiscal year 2014 to fasttrack the construction of malls, office
buildings and hotels.
The property development arm of tycoon
John Gokongwei said its earnings picked up five percent to P4.47 billion in
fiscal year 2013 that ended last September as higher costs and expenses offset
gains in revenues.
“The company has budgeted P16 billion
in capital expenditures (capex) covering land and construction for fiscal year
2014,” RLC said.
Specifically, 80 percent or P12.8
billion would be spent for the construction and completion of shopping malls,
office buildings and hotels, while the remaining 20 percent or P3.2 billion is
allotted for residential condominiums and housing units.
“These will be funded through cash
from operations and borrowings,” RLC said. The real estate firm spent P13.2
billion, P9.5 billion and P13.9 billion, in fiscal years 2013, 2012 and 2011,
respectively.
Higher spending is seen to continue
ensure the profitability of the listed real estate developer.
In fiscal year 2013, RLC’s net income
improved 5.6 percent to P4.47 billion from P4.23 billion in the previous
period.
The 20-percent jump in operating
expenses that hit P9.93 billion in fiscal year 2013 from P8.28 billion offset
the 18-percent growth in gross total revenues that reached P15.9 billion from
P13.52 billion.
RLC said higher cost of real estate
sales, depreciation expense of commercial centers and increased property and
maintenance cost for hotels tempered earnings last year.
The commercial centers division
accounted for P7.39 billion of the real estate revenues, up 15 percent from
P6.43 billion in the previous year.
“Metro Manila malls led by Robinsons
Galleria and Robinsons Place Manila contributed to the growth, while most
provincial malls also posted decent
growth in rental revenues,” RLC said.
For its part, the residential
division’s revenues spiked nearly 30 percent to P5.58 billion from P4.3 billion
due to the an increase in buyer equity requirement.
Revenues of the office buildings
segment inched up 2.85 percent to P1.44 billion, while the hotels division’s
revenues rose almost nine percent to P1.5 billion from P1.38 billion.
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