Anchor Land beefs up presence in Chinatown

MANILA, Philippines - Upscale residential developer Anchor Land Holdings Inc. is beefing up its commercial leasing and residential footprint close to Filipino-Chinese communities.

The property firm will launch three residential projects expected to generate P15 billion in revenues, and two warehousing facilities to boost recurring income, officials said yesterday.

“For this year, the target is to strengthen our presence in the Filipino-Chinese communities where Anchor Land started and is firmly rooted,” Anchor Land president Digna Elizabeth L. Ventura said during the company’s annual stockholders meeting.

“This year, we will be launching five new projects,” said Anchor Land CEO Steve Li, adding that these projects will be composed of two commercial and three residential developments.

Ventura said most of the new projects will be follow-ups of successful developments.

For instance, the 39-story Oxford Parksuites is banking on the robust demand in Chinatown to sell all 210 residential units.

Another top income contributor will be luxury project Monarch Parksuites in Parañaque. The project, near Pagcor’s Entertainment City gaming hub, will offer 1,312 residential units.

The third residential project to be launched this year is the 39-story Princeview Parksuites in Binondo, Manila.

“We are looking at P15 billion [in revenues] for the three projects. For the construction cost, we are looking at around P8 billion,” Li said.

Anchor Land is also expanding its recurring income portfolio.

“We hope that in the medium term, [recurring revenues] should reach around 10 percent in terms of total revenues,” said Anchor Land chief finance officer Neil Chua.

Rental income nearly tripled to P171 million last year from P43 million in 2011 due to the opening of Two Shopping Center.

Specifically, Anchor Land is building the 12-story One Logistics, which will offer office space and warehousing facilities in Pasay City. It is also involved in One Soler, a 10-story modern warehouse facility near 168 Mall in Divisoria.

“Based on what we’ve seen, we are confident that we should have a double-digit growth for this year,” Li said when asked about the outlook on profits and revenues.

Anchor Land’s consolidated net income rose 13 percent to P295.4 million in the first quarter compared with P262.24 million a year ago.

The property firm allotted P5 billion in capital expenditures for this year, up from P4.5 billion last year to pursue follow-up projects in its existing developments.

“As of now we are more focused on Metro Manila and Parañaque,” Li said.