Robinsons Land reports 19% hike in net income

Robinsons Land Corp., the real estate unit of Gokongwei flagship firm JG Summit Holdings Inc., reported a 19 percent growth in net income for the first quarter of its fiscal year ending September 2005, mainly driven by higher sales from lease operations.

Based on a financial report filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), RLC posted a net income of P302.1 million in the period October to December 2004 compared with only P254.7 million the previous level.

Gross revenues amounted to P1.26 billion, 20 percent higher than the year ago’s P1.05 billion.

Of the total, 62 percent came from RLC’s commercial centers division which saw its sales going up by 18 percent to P778.9 million from only P659.9 million a year earlier.

The increase was attributed to improved rental of space in Robinsons Galleria and Robinsons Place-Manila and the opening of new malls such as Robinsons Supercenter in Cainta, Robinsons Place-Lipa and Robinsons Place-Dasmariñas.

RLC’s High Rise Buildings division contributed P290.2 million in revenues, up 33 percent from the previous level’s P218.5 million, largely due to the recognition of realized revenues from Bloomfields, a residential subdivision development in Novaliches, Quezon City and Robinsons Place Residence in Manila.

Also, lease income from three of its office buildings–Galleria Corporate Center, Robinsons-Equitable Tower and Robinsons Summit Center-Ayala – which have become the choice corporate addresses of reputable multinational and domestic companies jumped 29 percent from P44 million to P56.9 million.

Its Housing and Land Development division, through its housing units Robinsons Homes Inc and Trion Homes Development Corp., registered a 34 percent growth in revenues from P57.5 million to P77 million due to higher units sold and project completion.

The hotel division, a major contributor to the company’s recurring revenues, registered gross revenues of P116.8 million.

RLC said its two remaining hotels and apartelle continue to register satisfactory occupancy rates.

The three-month average occupancy rate of Holiday-Inn Galleria Manila stood at 76 percent, the Cebu Midtown Hotel (71 percent), and the Robinsons Apartelle in Mandaluyong (58 percent).

Slated for opening in the second quarter this year is The Crown Plaza Hotel.

Real estate cost increased 30 percent from P396.8 million last year to P516.7 million as a result of higher maintenance and depreciation cost for the commercial division and incremental cost of condo and housing due to additional units sold.

General and administrative expense increased by 15 percent mainly due to additional malls.

RLC said its financial position remains solid with a financial debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15:1. Earnings per share for the period under review, amounted to P0.13 per share this year compared to P0.11 per share last year.

RLC is targeting to have at least 30 shopping malls throughout the country by 2010 or two to three new commercial centers every year. It now has 17 or 18 malls within the country.

The company currently has five malls operating in Metro Manila, namely, Robinsons Galleria in Ortigas, Robinsons Place Ermita, Robinsons Place Novaliches, Robinsons Gateway Mall in Mandaluyong and Robinsons Metro East in Pasig City.

The other malls are located in various parts of Cavite, Laguna, Pampanga, Cebu City, Iloilo City, Batangas and Cagayan de Oro.

RLC is looking at building more malls in Metro Manila in the short term. While it has some properties in Davao and General Santos City, RLC does not have any immediate plans to construct a mall in Mindanao.