Fil-Estate Land reports 24% jump in net income

Fil-Estate Land Inc. reported a 24-percent jump in net income for the fiscal year ending September 2004 to P24.9 million, mainly due to gain on sale of investments and expropriation of lots, and lower interest expense.

Based on financial statements filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), FELI registered revenues of P986.09 million, six percent lower due to a 38 percent decrease in service and rental income from the previous year.

Sales of residential lots continued to provide the bulk or 84 percent of revenues. Sales of golf and resort shares provided four percent while other revenue sources provided 12 percent. Other revenue sources were service income from golf maintenance contracts and rental income in Splash Island.

Gross profit rose to P315.35 million from only P328.7 million. Other income likewise increased to P159.04 million from P124.95 million.

Cash and cash equivalents including receivables amounted to P1.97 billion, up slightly from P1.966 billion the previous year. Real estate and golf and resort shares amounted to P7.2 billion, down from P7.4 billion last year.

Consolidated assets fell from P17.56 billion to P16.79 billion. Liabilities, on the other hand, went down to P7.57 billion from P8.35 billion.

To ensure continued growth, FELI said it continues to revisit its strategies and implement measures geared towards generating liquidity to meet customer commitments and other obligations.

The company intends to reduce its debts through dacion en pago or payment-in-kind scheme.

FELI also plans to forge alliances with strategic partners and investors for the completion of various projects. It hopes to launch subdivision projects catering to the middle-income market.

The company is currently developing a 1,269-hectare property in Batangas into a tourism and residential area to be called Nasugbu Harbortown, for which it will initially spend P300 million.

FELI is confident that Nasugbu Harbortown will be widely received by the public and will be a large revenue earner.

Other projects include the second phase of Cathedral Heights in Quezon City, Sun Plaza in Mandaluyong City, Richgate in Baguio, Tierra Vista in Lipa, Batangas; and the fourth phase of Canyon Woods in Lipa, Batangas.

Cathedral Heights is a collection of 90 two and three-story townhouses located in New Manila, Quezon City while Sun Plaza is a 22-story colonial-styled office condominium located in the corner of Princeton Street and Shaw Boulevard in Mandaluyong City. Both projects primarily cater to the middle-income market, including Pag-Ibig members.

The Fil-Estate Group earlier acquired properties from real estate giant Ayala Land Inc. in exchange for its 30.89 percent stake in the North Triangle Depot Commercial Corp. (NTDC).

NTDC is the firm that will develop the commercial area at the Metro Rail Tansit depot in North Edsa, Quezon City.

The Fil-Estate Group plans to develop the 3,200 hectare property in Makati into a mixed-use complex.