FDC earns P2.15B in H1

MANILA, Philippines - Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC), the investment  holding firm of the Gotianun family, grew its earnings nearly a fifth in the first semester driven by its banking and property units.

In a disclosure, FDC said its net income gained 19 percent to P2.15 billion in the first half from P1.8 billion last year.

Total revenues and other income jumped almost 30 percent to P17.99 billion from P13.88 billion a year ago.

Specifically, finance and banking services contributed P7.91 billion or 44 percent of consolidated revenues and other income. This was followed by real estate operations at P7.32 billion or 41 percent, sugar business at P2.27 billion or 13 percent, and hotel operations at P488 million or three percent.

In the first half, revenues of real estate arm Filinvest Land Inc. (FLI) climbed 16 percent to P7.32 billion from P6.32 billion.

“The growth resulted from the continued robust real estate sales and steady growth in mall and rental revenues,” FLI said.

FLI said real estate sales grew 17 percent to P5.48 billion from P4.69 billion on higher sales of middle-income projects, low-cost house and lot units, and increase in sales of lots in Filinvest Corporate City in Alabang, Muntinlupa. Mall and rental revenues also rose 11 percent to P1.07 billion due to higher occupancy rate.

FDC said its subsidiary Filinvest Alabang Inc.,  the developer of the 244-hectare Filinvest Corporate City, had a consolidated net income  of P467 million, more than doubled the P193  million in the same period last year.

For the financial and banking business, FDC said East West Banking Corp.’s net income picked up 40 percent to P1.27 billion from P910 million last year as net interest income rose 41 percent to P3.89 billion from P2.75 billion.

“The higher net interest income was a result of  the double-digit growth in lending coupled by declining cost of funds,” EastWest said.

Trading and securities gain surged 161 percent to P1.49 billion in the first half while the lender also recorded a P69-million foreign exchange gain on the back of a volatile financial market.

FDC’s sugar operations, through Pacific Sugar Holdings, posted a consolidated net income of P207 million from P124 million last year “due to the 73-percent increase in revenues as sale of sugar reached P3.31 billion from P1.91 billion.”

In the first semester, sugar cane milled hit 913,000 tons, up from 815,000 tons a year ago.

FDC’s hotel operations, through Crimson Resort and Spa at Seascapes Resort Town in Cebu and Crimson Hotel Filinvest City Manila, recorded total revenues of P508 million, up 70 percent from last year due to higher occupancy.

Early this year, the listed investment holding company secured $300 million in its first foray into the international bond market to finance expansion projects.

FDC is also joining the bidding for the P17.5-billion Public-Private Partnership project to expand and operate the Mactan-Cebu International Airport.