ALI profit up 31% to P2.13 billion

MANILA, Philippines - Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) sustained its strong momentum with its first quarter net earnings growing 31 percent to P2.13 billion on brisk sales and higher contributions from other segments of the market.

In a briefing yesterday, ALI chief financial officer Jaime Ysmael said consolidated revenues expanded 17 percent to P12.39 billion, bulk of which or P11.77 billion came from real estate sales and hotel operations.

 “Demand remains high. We have set a new record in terms of sales at P19.3 billion equivalent to an average monthly sales take-up of P6.44 billion. This was 49 percent higher than the record P4.31 billion average monthly sales take-up for the whole of 2011,” Ysmael said, noting the significant rise in sales of products catering to the high-end segment of the market.

Ysmael said the company is on track to meet its P10-billion income target by 2015, noting that it may even come sooner than expected due to the continued robust growth of its businesses.

He said cost-containment measures likewise contributed to the company’s strong performance.

Property development, which includes the sale of residential lots and units, as well as the sale of commercial and industrial lots, chalked in revenues of P7.51 billion, up 18 percent from P6.34 billion.

Revenues from the residential segment, on the other hand, rose 21 percent to P7.01 billion on the back of a 48 percent jump in the value of bookings across the group’s four residential brands (Ayala Land Premier, Alveo, Avida and Amaia).

The four brands rolled out a total of 2,693 units worth around P11.3 billion.

Sale of commercial and industrial lots, however, fell 11 percent to P499 million due to lower commercial lot sales in Nuvali compared to last year. Gross profit margins however improved to 56 percent from 50 percent with significant price increases in the Nuvali commercial lots.

Commercial leasing, which includes the company’s shopping center and office leasing operations, registered total revenues of P2.04 billion, 21 percent higher than the P1.68 billion recorded the previous level. 

Revenues from shopping centers grew 27 percent to P1.39 billion while office leasing revenues went up 11 percent to P647 million.

The hotels and resorts business saw its revenues rising 16 percent to P650 million largely due to better occupancy rates and revenue per available room. ALI is currently constructing its first four owner-operated urban lifestyle hotels called Kukun in Bonifacio Global City, Davao, Cagayan de Oro and Nuvali, two of which are expected to begin operations towards the end of this year.