8990 Holdings passes 2014 profit target

MANILA, Philippines - 8990 Holdings Inc. said it expects profits to continue growing double digits this year after it outperformed its 2014 profit guidance.

In a briefing yesterday, 8990 Holdings president and chief executive officer Januario Jesus Atencio said the company was able to surpass last year’s profit guidance of P3 billion as net income grew 52 percent year-on-year to P3.3 billion.

Atencio said the housing developer likewise met its sales guidance for 2014, with gross sales increasing 48 percent to P7.9 billion and net margin improving to 43 percent from the previous year’s 40 percent.

“These are still unaudited figures, but audited figures should not be far once it comes out,” he said.

Atencio attributed last year’s strong performance to the country’s strong economy supported by the increase in OFW remittances and growth in the BPO sector.

With last year’s impressive performance, Atencio said 8990 Holdings is now gearing up for an even more profitable year.

The firm is targeting to further grow its net income between 15 percent to 21 percent this year to about P3.8 billion to P4 billion.

Revenue growth, meanwhile, is eyed at 22 percent to 27 percent at P9.6 billion to P10 billion.

This year, Atencio said the company is looking to bolster its presence in Luzon through more projects.

“Luzon is the new area for us. We are already strong in the Visayas and Mindanao region and we are already stable there. I want to have more presence in Luzon,” he said.

A total of 11,083 housing units is being planned to be built by the company this year, of which 44 percent will be in Luzon, 31 percent in the Visayas, and 25 percent in Mindanao.

As such, the company said 42 percent of the company’s projected 2015 revenues would come from Luzon, while 32 percent and 27 percent would come from Visayas and Mindanao projects, respectively.

8990 Holdings is hiking its spending program this year to P8 billion, of which P3 billion will be used for capital expenditures and another P5 billion for operating expenses.

Atencio said the mass housing builder is currently scouting for properties in Bacolod, Bulacan, Pampanga and Davao to expand its landbank.

Last year, nine new projects spread over 96.9 hectares consisting of 10,855 housing units were launched by 8990 Holdings.