San Miguel Properties books over 3-fold income increase to P885M in 9 months

MANILA, Philippines - San Miguel Properties Inc. (SMPI), the real estate development arm of diversifying conglomerate San Miguel Corp., reported a more than three-fold jump in its net earnings in the first three quarters of the year, mainly boosted by gains from the sale of assets.

In its financial report submitted to the Philippine Stock Exchange, SMPI said its net profit jumped to P885.37 million from P248.35 million a year earlier.

The company said it booked a P734-million gain from the sale of a property on Reliance St. and 15 condominium units in its building.

In the third quarter alone, SMPI chalked in a net income of P393.12 million or more than three times the P114.87 million recorded in the same period a year ago.

Real estate sales, however, declined 8.9 percent to P162 million due to stricter processing of loan applications to ensure creditworthiness of borrowers.  

Unrealized gross profit on installment sales of real estate decreased by P680,000 due to the full realization of the Legacy Homes Inc. project in 2010.

Selling and administrative expenses increased to P155 million or by P33 million from 2009 due to the higher selling and marketing expenses brought about by the aggressive re-branding initiatives by the company to promote pipeline projects.

Equity in net earnings went up 17 percent to P147 million due to the increase in ownership of Bank of Commerce common shares to 33.86 percent as a result of the acquisitions this year. The increase is also attributable to the hike in Bancommerce’s net income to P430 million or eight percent higher than in 2009.

As of end-December 2010, the company’s cash and cash equivalents stood at P91 million, down 30 percent.