Filinvest Land almost doubles profit to P1.7 billion

Gotianun-led Filinvest Land, Inc. nearly doubled profits last year to P1.7 billion from P872 million in 2006, citing strong rental income from investment properties aside from its real estate development business. In a bid to sustain growth, Filinvest Land said it would spend P6 billion this year, lining up 36 new projects and phases for launch, with an estimated sales value of P10 billion. In 2007, the listed property developer launched 17 new projects and phases with an inventory value of P6.1 billion. "Some of these projects will be in new locations beginning with the first residential subdivision in Butuan City as well as more of the inner-city residential mid-rise buildings similar to One Oasis Ortigas. The company is increasing its marketing efforts to reach more of its target market in the overseas Filipino worker-rich areas of Europe, the Middle East and Asia," the company said in a statement. In 2007, Filinvest increased revenues by about 46% to P5.1 billion, 69% of which came from real estate development. About 7% came from equity in net earnings from Filinvest Alabang, Inc. while 20% came from leasing revenues from Festival Supermall, the PBCom Tower in Makati, and business process outsourcing (BPO) office buildings at the Northgate Cyberzone in Alabang’s Filinvest Corporate City. The remaining 4% came from interest and other income. Equity in net earnings from Filinvest Alabang included a P280-million net gain from the sale of Filinvest Land shares during a follow-on offering in February 2007. Socialized and affordable housing, which consist of house and lot packages priced from P300,000 to P1.5 million, accounted for P748 million or 24% of Filinvest Land’s real estate development revenues. Covering house and lot packages up to P4 million, the middle income segment accounted for 43% or P1.4 billion. High-end projects, farm estates, industrial lots, and entrepreneurial housing contributed P1.1 billion or 33%. Expecting demand for BPO office space to remain strong, Filinvest Land said two of the four buildings under construction at Northgate Cyberzone, namely iHub1 and iHub2, are scheduled for delivery within the first semester of 2008. Construction of two BPO office buildings at One Oasis Ortigas will likely start this quarter. Filinvest Land has 60 on-going projects that have generated a sales take-up of P5 billion in 2007, a 35.14% increase from P3.7 billion in 2006. Last year, the property firm expanded into several new areas including Pampanga, Tarlac and Palawan. It has started offering mid-rise residential buildings in major urban centers such as Pasig and Davao. It has also launched its first "condotel" project, called the Grand Cenia Hotel and Residences in Cebu City.- BuisnessWorld