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Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) said its net profit for the first quarter this year jumped 64 percent to P252.26 million on the back of higher real estate sales, rental income and equity earnings from one of its affiliates.

Total revenues rose 140 percent to P1.024 billion, P816.5 million of which accounted for real estate sales or an increase of 46 percent from the year ago level. Rental income, meanwhile, surged to P226.7 million from P7.8 million due to the infusion of three assets (Northgate Cyberzone, Festival Supermall and PBCom Tower) acquired in September last year.

Earnings contribution from its 20 percent-owned affiliate, Filinvest Alabang Inc., which manages shopping malls and office buildings, also jumped to P285.9 million from P7.7 million in the same quarter last year.

FLI realized a one-time extraordinary gain as a result of the highly successful secondary offering of shares by Filinvest Alabang Inc. during its follow-on offering.

The addition of the mall and leasing operations of the newly acquired properties resulted in an increase in the general and administrative expenses of FLI, particularly in the areas of depreciation and salaries and benefits. The company also booked a one-time provision of P280.5 million to cover possible decline in the value of some assets held for sale.

As of end-March this year, FLI’s total assets reached P42 billion while stockholders’ equity amounted to P35 billion.

In Feb. 2007, FLI raised P5.9 billion through a follow-on offering to fund ongoing projects.  It has budgeted P5 billion in capital expenditures for the year, P 3.7 billion of which will go to residential developments and P 1.3 billion for office developments.

FLI is optimistic of its continued growth given its aggressive expansion and marketing strategy. It has lined up 14 new projects this year which include condotels, medium rise buildings and residential resort communities.

Among these projects include Grand Cenia, an 18-story condotel located within Cebu’s central business district; and One Oasis, a complex of nine five-storey residential medium rise buildings located in Pasig City.

The company is also building Sommerset Lane in Tarlac, Hampton Orchards and Claremont Village in Pampanga, and Kembali Coast in Samal Island, Davao, a 50-hectare Asian Balinese-inspired getaway.

Other regional projects include Escala - Cebu and West Palms - Puerto Princesa, Palawan.