Belle Corp earmarks P6B for 2 new property projects

Property and gaming firm Belle Corp. will spend about P6 billion in the next three to five years for the development of two new projects: A golf-course with a residential subdivision and a mixed-use building.

Belle vice chairman Willy Ocier said development of the two new projects – dubbed Midlands South and Rancho Montana – will start next year on a 500-hectare property in Batangas.

According to Ocier, the two new projects are in line with the company’s bid to accelerate the development of its properties to take advantage of the boom in the property sector.

"We see a boom in the property sector which is expected to carry on in the next few years.

We’re activating 500 hectares of landbank and we’re also planning to acquire more properties," Ocier said.

Funding for the two projects will come from internally-generated cash and pre-selling activities, Ocier pointed out.

He added the company still has 340 hectares of land left for future development.

He said the company is in talks with a local retail group for joint development of its property in the Manila Bay land reclamation area. The property may be converted into an information technology building catering to the needs of business process outsourcing (BPO) firms.

Belle incurred a net loss of P9.52 million in the second quarter this year, mainly due to higher foreign exchange losses and interest expense.

The loss was also due to lower revenues during the period under review.

While costs and expenses declined by 43.35 percent, other charges went up 44.81 percent to P79.18 million from P54.68 million.

Belle’s interest expense likewise grew 15 percent to P118.5 million owing to higher interest rates. With the depreciation of the peso against the dollar to 53.11 to $1 as of June 30, Belle posted a P1.2 million foreign exchange transaction loss for the first half of the year with regards its dollar denominated debt, which totals $22 million compared to a forex gain of P6.1 million in 2005.

In the six months to June this year, Belle reported a P60.2 million net profit, slightly higher than the previous level’s P60.1 million even as net revenues fell 15.33 percent to P284.93 million.

The decrease in revenues was attributed to lower sales of real estate products from P321 million to 273.94 million.

Belle’s subsidiaries or affiliates include Highlands Prime Inc which posted a net profit of P53.6 million, and Pacific Online Systems Corp., with a net income of P30.4 million.

Highlands Prime is also engaged in real estate development within the Tagaytay Highlands and Midlands complexes, while Pacific Online leases on-line equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office (PSCO) for their lottery operations in the Visayas and Mindanao.