By Neil Jerome C. Morales (The
Philippine Star) | Updated April 9, 2014 - 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines - The Gotianun
family’s property arm Filinvest Inc. (FLI) has breached the P4-billion income
mark last year on the strength of the residential, office and commercial
businesses.
In a regulatory filing, FLI said its
profits rose 14 percent to P4 billion last year from P3.5 billion in 2012.
“The net income increased as a result
of a 16-percent growth in total revenues from its residential, office and
commercial business units to P13.6 billion in 2013 from P11.7 billion in 2012,”
the company said.
Specifically, real estate sales picked
up 19 percent to P10.5 billion from P8.8 billion while rental income gained
eight percent to P2.03 billion from P1.9 billion.
“The hike in real estate sales was
driven by the sustained sales take-up generated during the year, as well as the
completion of more mid-rise buildings (MRBs) and house-and-lot projects,” FLI
said.
FLI launched 17 projects in 2013,
comprising of six new MRB projects and 11 new phases in existing horizontal
projects.
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New MRBs and high-rise building that
contributed significantly to sales include San Remo Oasis, The Levels and
Studio Zen.
Rental revenues rose on higher rental
income and sustained high occupancy in existing mall and offices spaces, as
well as from new spaces in Edsa Transcom Building and Northgate Cyberzone in
Filinvest City, the property firm said.
Equity in net earnings from FLI’s
20-percent owned affiliate Filinvest Alabang. Inc. (FAI) was flat at P187
million. FAI is the developer of the 244-hectare Filinvest City in Alabang,
Muntinlupa.
FAI sold lots with a total area of 1.7
hectares to various buyers last year. Lot prices in Filinvest City hit a high
of P186,000 per square meter (sqm.), up from P115,000 per sqm. in 2012.
“Improved performance of the company
in the future will be driven by the growth strategies that we have initiated
recently and are now starting to pay off,” said FLI president and CEO Josephine
Gotianun-Yap.
“In tandem with the growth in FLI’s
residential development business, we are now aggressively building up our
recurring business with a much wider geographic coverage,” she added.
For instance, FLI expects the leasing
assets’ leasable area to grow more than 2.5 times over the next five years from
2013 levels.
FLI earlier acquired properties that
are strategically located throughout Metro Manila, along or close to
transportation lines and hubs.
“We are also adding commercial and
retail spaces in strategic locations in Cebu and other selected areas,” Yap
said, adding that half of the company’s capital spending program will go to
investments in recurring income portfolio.
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