Belle Corp rebounds, posts P428-M income in 1st half

Driven by hefty gains from the sale of its interest in Highlands Prime Leisure Properties Inc., Belle Corp. reported a turnaround in its financial performance for the first six months of the year as it posted a net income of P428.1 million from a net loss of P847.19 million the previous level.

In a quarterly report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, Belle said: "The most significant contributor to the turnaround in our consolidated operations results was our net capital gain from the spin-off and sale of majority interest in Highlands, amounting to about P1.4 billion."

Belle raised P2.8 billion in gross proceeds from the spin-off and sale of shares in Highlands following the listing of the latter’s common stock at the Philippine Stock Exchange in late April this year. Bulk of the proceeds was used to pay off maturing debts and fund necessary capital expenditures.

The capital gain from Highlands, however, was offset by P890.2 million in equitized losses and loss provisions attributable to investee companies, particularly APC Group Inc.

Without the proceeds from the sale of its Highlands shares, Belle would have recorded a deficit as revenues went down to P84.6 million from P152.8 million as a result of the continued sluggishness in the property sector and slower economic activity.

It reported an operating loss of P25.9 million or 61.05 percent lower than the year ago figure of P66.5 million.

The company’s financial charges, however, declined to P176.9 million from P413.3 million last year, due mainly to lower interest rates on its loans.

The property firm’s continuing emphasis on cost control, and a company-wide retrenchment plan largely completed in April, helped Belle attain a year-on-year decrease in its operating expenses from P50.4 million in 2001 to P28.7 million this year.

Most of the decrease in operating expenses resulted from a P12.1 million (43.7 percent) reduction in salaries, wages and employee benefits. From a workforce of 286 as of Dec. 31 last year, it is now down to 167 as of June 30, 2002.