Highlands Prime profit jumps 186% to P87M in 9 mos

Highlands Prime Inc. (HPI), a publicly-listed high-end leisure development firm controlled by mall tycoon Henry Sy, reported a 186 percent jump in its net income for the first nine months of the year to P87 million from only P30.5 million a year earlier.

Based on financial statements filed with the Philippine Stock Exchange, HPI registered revenues of P343 million from sales of Woodridge condominium units and Lakeview and Alta Mira subdivision lots. These resulted in a realized gross profit of P143 million or 162 percent higher than the year ago level of P54.8 million.

With the company’s strong performance, HPI president Antonio Henson said net profit for the year would likely reach P100 million or more than double that of last year’s P43.8 million.

Henson said around 80 percent of The Woodridge has already been sold. Six of the seven buildings at the project have already been completed and the last building, the Sequioa, is expected to commence construction by the end of 2005.

HPI has set aside P800 million for the expansion of The Woodridge. Funding for the project will come from internally generated cash.

The company has also began work on The Horizon – a low-rise Asian contemporary-inspired condominium units at the Tagaytay Midlands. The project is expected to be completed over a five-year period.

Other projects in the pipeline include highly exclusive single-detached residential homes and a Japanese-inspired village – all at the Tagaytay Highlands.

Henson said these new projects will further enhance the already impressive community landscape of Tagaytay Highlands.

HPI has over 500 hectares of land in Tagaytay City, Laguna and Batangas which could be developed into residential/leisure projects over the next 10 to 15 years.

HPI was spun off from another listed property developer Belle Corp. as part of the latter’s corporate restructuring aimed at wiping out its heavy debt load of about P6.3 billion.

It was initially set up by Belle in Feb. 2002 with property assets of P7.71 billion, comprised of undeveloped land, subdivision lots and finished residential units located around the vicinity of the

Tagaytay Highlands International Golf Club Inc., Belle’s prime property project.