By Richmond Mercurio (The Philippine
Star) | Updated January 21, 2015 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - Property
developer Sta. Lucia Land Inc. (SLI) is eyeing to expand its mall presence
outside its domain in Rizal, citing the country’s consumption boom as its
growth driver.
“The company plans to replicate its
success and expertise in its current 120,000-square meter mall in Rizal by
building new malls in commercial areas
it already owns,” SLI said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange
yesterday.
SLI said the size of its commercial
areas across the country currently stands at
around 33.93 hectares and are located in over 20 cities and provinces.
SLI president and chief executive
officer Exequiel D. Robles earlier told The STAR in an interview that the
company is eyeing Iloilo or Davao as possible locations for its new mall
developments.
To date, SLI’s only mall under its
portfolio is the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall in Cainta, Rizal.
Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall was the
first shopping complex which catered to the communities of Pasig, Cainta,
Marikina and Antipolo in 1991
In September last year, the listed
property firm completed IL Centro, a two-level expansion mall of its East Grand
Mall.
As one of the country’s largest
subdivision developers with presence in 10 regions, SLI said it is poised to
capture the country’s remarkable economic performance in the coming years as
growth continues to accelerate in areas outside Metro Manila
“With multiple projects already
present in the key cities and provinces, the company will be the beneficiary of
increased purchasing power and the renewed influx of commerce as businesses
starts to flourish in emerging cities and provinces,” the listed property firm
said.
David dela Cruz, SLI executive vice
president and chief finance officer, said market value of the company’s
properties in Iloilo, Cebu, Davao, Pampanga and Bulacan has appreciated in
recent years is expected to do so in the coming years.
“Even during the property crisis that
happened in the past decades, property prices in these areas did not have
violent swings, but instead have had a steady trajectory of increases in values
over the past years,” he said.
The company has launched a total of 38
projects in the past three years in areas such as Rizal, Cebu, Iloilo and
Davao.
SLI was able to more than double its
earnings in the third quarter of last year behind soaring real estate sales.
The company’s net income climbed 112
percent in July to September 2014 to P426 million from P201 million the
previous year.
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