RLC income up 9% in Q2

MANILA, Philippines - Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), the property development arm of tycoon John Gokongwei, posted higher earnings in the April to June period driven by better real estate sales and rental income.

In a regulatory filing, the property firm said its net income attributable to equity holders of parent company rose nearly nine percent to P1.21 billion from P1.11 billion a year ago.

Total revenues, derived from real estate and hotel operations, hit P4.47 billion in the third quarter of its fiscal year that will end in September, up 35 percent from P3.3 billion a year ago.

RLC said the growth in revenues was driven by the 82-percent surge in real estate sales to P1.78 billion, the 14-percent uptick in rental income to P1.86 billion and the 6.35-percent increase in hotel revenues to P368 million.

For the October 2012 to June 2013 period, RLC said “net income attributable to equity holders of parent company increased 8.8 percent to P3.64 billion from P3.35 billion in the previous period.

“Total real estate revenues were up 24.3 percent to P11.25 billion against last year’s P9.04 billion while hotel revenues went up 11.8 percent to P1.14 billion,” RLC said.

However, the climb was tempered by a 30.4-percent spike in real estate costs while hotel expenses rose 7.7 percent.

RLC said revenues of the commercial centers division, which accounted for 44 percent of the company’s gross revenues, jumped 15.7 percent to P5.46 billion.

“Metro Manila malls led by Robinsons Galleria and Robinsons Place Manila contributed to the growth while  most provincial malls also posted decent growth in rental revenues,” RLC said.

For its part, the residential division, which cornered 38 percent of total revenues, posted a 42.8-percent increase in revenues to P4.71 billion.

The office buildings division contributed nine percent or P1.07 billion to total revenues, up 4.8 percent from last year’s P1.02 billion.

The business unit’s leasing income is derived from eight office buildings that include Galleria Corporate Center, Robinsons Equitable Tower, Robinsons Summit Center and Cebu Cybergate.

Lastly, the hotels division accounted for nine percent or P1.14 billion of total revenues, higher by 11.8 percent from the previous year.