Robinsons Land earnings jump 29% to P3.15 billion

Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property arm of Gokongwei investment holding firm JG Summit Holdings Inc., said its net earnings rose 29 percent in its fiscal year ending September 2008 to P3.15 billion on the back of solid growth in operating lease revenues and sales.

In a financial report filed with securities regulators, RLC said consolidated revenues grew 26 percent to P11.18 billion from only P8.89 billion as sales from lease operations improved 35 percent.

RLC president and chief operating officer Frederick Go said the financial results were better than expected amid tough challenges in the real estate industry.

He said the company will continue to pursue projects in industry segments that have promising potentials to further boost its cash flow.

“We will continue to produce projects that cater to the demands of the consumer market. Our solid balance sheet and stable recurring income will allow us to pursue more projects in the coming year,” Go said.

RLC’s commercial centers division contributed P3.7 billion or 33 percent while its high-rise division accounted for 50.44 percent or P5.64 billion of the company’s gross revenues.

As of Sept. 30 last year, RLC operated 21 shopping malls, comprising six malls in Metro Manila and 15 malls in other urban areas throughout the Philippines, and had another 13 projects that are in the planning and development stage scheduled for completion in the next two to three years.

Among the new malls in the pipeline are Robinsons Dumaguete, Tacloban, Gen. Santos, Cebu and San Niccolas in Ilocos.

The strong rental sales, however, were offset by flat revenue growth in RLC’s hotel operations and a drop in interest income.

The 2008 net income includes an extraordinary adjustment to reduce provision for deferred income tax amounting to about P300 million. The adjustment was necessitated by the reduction of the legislated corporate income tax rate starting January 2009 from 35 percent to 30 percent.

The residential buildings division registered revenues of P4.76 billion, up 69 percent from the previous level mainly due to higher realized sales of condominium units in East of Galleria in Ortigas, Gateway Garden Ridge and Gateway Garden Heights in Pioneer, Mandaluyong and Otis 888 Residences in Manila.

The office buildings division, on the other hand, reported a 24-percent growth in revenues to P883 million due to stable recurring lease income from six of RLC’s office buildings, which have become the choice corporate addresses of reputable multinational companies as well as BPO (business process outsourcing) firms.