DoubleDragon to build community malls in Iloilo

MANILA, Philippines - DoubleDragon Properties Corp. has inked an agreement to build two community malls in Iloilo City in its bid to hit P1 billion in net income by 2016 through an aggressive expansion program.

In a filing with securities regulators,  DoubleDragon said its unit, CityMall Commercial Centers Inc., signed an agreement with the Iloilo Commercial Development Corp. (ICDC) to lease two prime lots in Ungka, Pavia and Tagbak, Jaro for a period of 26 years.

The properties, cover a total of  19,918 square meters.

The Pavia site, with an area of 1.19 hectares, is situated at the corner of the National Highway, which links the Iloilo Downtown and the Iloilo International Airport, and the newly-created access road which leads to Jaro, the busiest and the largest of all districts of Iloilo City.  It is also conveniently located near several large-scale residential communities.

The Jaro site, on the other hand, is across the Tagbak bus terminal, which is the biggest transportation hub in Iloilo.

ICDC is owned by the Iloilo-based Que family, which operates the largest supermarket/community mall chain in the city with seven branches.

The Que family has been in the grocery retailing business for more than 30 years.

“The Que family owns several properties for their expansion and were also planning to expand their own community malls but decided to work with CMCCI instead, recognizing the synergy that will be created by the partnership between (DoubleDragon) and ICDC,” the newly-listed company said.

Double Dragon aims to be one of the country’s largest property developers by 2020 with the construction of 100 CityMall community malls.  It is targeting a net profit of P4.8 billion by 2020 or nearly five times its projected earnings for 2016.

CMCCI is 66 percent owned by DoubleDragon (a 50-50 joint venture between  Injap Investments Inc. and Jollibee’s Tony Tan Caktiong) and 34 percent owned by the Sy family’s SM Investments Corp.

Mang Inasal founder Edgar “Injap” Sia II owns Injap Investments.

The  group hopes to complete five CityMalls by the end of the year and open 20 new malls by 2015.

Double Dragon ended the first quarter with a net income of P21.1 million or more than double the P9.8 million reported in the same period last year.  Revenues likewise grew more than two-fold to P172.5 million.