Belle Corp triples third quarter income on higher sales

MANILA, Philippines - Listed real estate development and gaming firm Belle Corp. nearly tripled its net earnings in the third quarter this year on higher sale of real estate and club shares.

In a quarterly report submitted to securities regulators, Belle said its net profit from July to September this year reached P143.41 million compared with only P48.55 million the previous level.

This brings the company’s nine-month net income to P301.24 million, up 148 percent from the year earlier figure of P121.43 million.

Revenues, on the other hand, amounted to P1.05 billion in the first nine months of the year or an improvement of 14 percent from P910.93 million a year ago.

In the third quarter alone, revenues grew 39.3 percent to P430.29 million mainly coming from sales of lots in the Verandas at Saratoga Hills and new sales in Lakeside Fairways Phase 6 (Cotswold) and Lakeside Fairways Phase 7 (Katsura).

Because of the higher revenues, gross profit rose 10 percent to P497.4 million.

Total operating expenses, including depreciation and amortization, went up seven percent to P124 million due to increased project development and marketing activities. Interest expense decreased though by two percent to P158.9 million. 

However, with the appreciation of the peso against the dollar to 47.39 as of Sept. 30, 2009 from 47.52 in Dec. 31, 2008, Belle recorded a P2.8-million foreign exchange gain on its dollar denominated debt of $22 million. Comparatively, the company had a foreign exchange transaction loss of P125.4 million as the peso depreciated to 47.05 from 41.28 as of Dec. 31, 2007.

Belle’s equity in net earnings of associated companies grew 60 percent to P121.9 million from P76.2 million. Equitized share in net earnings were from Belle’s 35-percent owned associate Pacific Online Systems Corp. and its 36 percent owned associate highlands Prime Inc.

Pacific Online leases online equipment to the Philippine Charity Sweepstakes Office for their lottery operations in the Visayas and Mindanao while Highlands is also engaged in real estate development.

Belle expects to sustain its growth for the rest of the year with future revenues coming from Lakeside Fairways and Fairfield, a project adjacent to the Verandas at Saratoga Hills that will be launched during the last quarter of 2009. 

As of Sept. 30, 2009, the first four phases of Lakeside Fairways (Kew Gardens, Terrazas de Alava, Lakeside Enclave and Tivoli Place), a lots-only subdivision located south of the existing Tagaytay Midlands golf course and initially launched in 2007 were collectively 92 percent completed and more than 86 percent sold and reserved. 

Cotswold, the sixth phase of the Lakeside Fairways that was launched in 2008, was 45 percent completed and approximately 53 percent sold and reserved as of Sept. 30, 2009. Although the latest phase of Lakeside Fairways (Katsura) was launched only in 2009, the project was already 39 percent completed and was approximately 76 percent sold and reserved as of the same period.

Belle had total assets of P10 billion as of end-September this year as against liabilities of only P4.35 billion.