Robinsons Land net profit up 28% in first quarter

MANILA, Philippines - Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property arm of Gokongwei flagship firm JG Summit Holdings Inc., posted a net income of P869.2 million in the first quarter of its fiscal year ending September 2010,  up 28 percent from the previous level of P679.68 million on the back of strong retail lease operations and higher interest income.

Financial statements submitted to securities regulators show that RLC registered revenues of P2.71 billion for the period October to December 2009, up 13.86 percent from P2.38 billion a year earlier. Real estate revenues rose 11.1 percent to P2.2 billion while hotel operations contributed P288.68 million or an increase of only 3.1 percent.

Cinema revenues of P164 million arising from the company’s takeover of cinema operations starting October 2009, contributed also to the strong revenue growth.

From only P113.1 million a year ago, RLC’s interest income surged 92 percent to P217.71 million, mainly due to interest earned from money market placements amounting to P100 million arising from proceeds of bond offering.

Real estate cost dropped by four percent to P868 million on lower level of realized sales for residential condo projects due to lower percentage of completion.

Hotel cost, on the other hand, slightly went up to P 254 million due to opening of Summit Ridge Tagaytay Hotel.

RLC’s commercial centers divisions pumped in P1.4 billion in revenues or 52 percent of the firm’s gross revenues, posting a 41-percent jump. Significant rental increment was contributed by the newly opened malls in Dumaguete, Ilocos Norte, General Santos, Tacloban and Davao. Metro Manila malls led by Robinsons Galleria, Ortigas also contributed to the growth while other provincial malls also posted decent growth in lease revenues.

The high-rise residential buildings unit, on the other hand, contributed P603 percent or 22 percent of total revenues. The amount is 14 percent lower than the previous level due to lower completion of several projects.

The office buildings division, meanwhile, registered revenues of P264.8 million, up five percent from the year ago due to rentals from Cybergate Centers 2 and 3 and six office buildings – Galleria Corporate Center, Robinsons Equitable Tower, Robinsons Summit Center and Robinsons Cybergate Center Towers 1,2 and 3.

The Hotels Division chipped in 11 percent or P289.2 million to RLC’s total revenues, three percent higher than the previous level due to opening of Summit Ridge Tagaytay Hotel. The other existing hotels, Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila, Holiday Inn Galleria Manila and Cebu Midtown Hotel posted occupancy rates of 76 percent, 79 percent and 50 percent, respectively.

Revenues from the Housing and Land Development Division slid by just one percent to P136.1 million, brought about by lower percentage completion of various ongoing projects.

As of Dec. 31, 2009, RLC had total assets of P 53.3 billion while total equity amounted to P 26.4 billion.