A. Brown Co. posts 149% profit hike in first quarter

A. Brown Co. Inc. (ABCI), a Cagayan de Oro City-based real estate development firm, posted a 149 percent growth in net income for the first quarter of this year with its increased revenues generated from robust sales in its real estate development projects and the influx of other income.

In the company’s disclosure, ABCI president Robertino Pizarro said net sales for the first quarter 2005 increased by P17.4 million, surging to P40.69 million from P23.21 million in the same period last year. Finance costs, on the other hand, declined by 13 percent as a result of the decrease in the company’s principal loan balance due to advance made to creditor banks.

Based on its 2004 annual report, ABCI grossed a total of P160.1 million last year. It had an asset base of P1.771 billion and a stockholders’ equity of P1.1 billion as of December 2004.

Pizarro said during the first quarter, ABCI was able to book 37 lots from its real estate projects Xavier Estates in Cagayan de Oro City and the recently-completed East Cove Village in Cainta, Rizal. He noted that of the 37 lots that were booked, 12 were on spot cash basis.

"The pick-up in the real estate market has encouraged us to resume activities in Luzon. The development of a former plant site in Cainta, Rizal, which is now a middle class residential subdivision known as East Cove Village, will lead us in the near future to the eventual development of our major landholdings in Tanay, Rizal," Pizzaro said.

As a real estate developer, ABCI owns several parcels of land strategically located in Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Tanay, Rizal and Mindanao.