Global Estate sees 20% earnings growth this year

MANILA, Philippines - Global-Estate Resorts Inc. (GERI) of property tycoon Andrew L. Tan expects to grow its earnings and revenues by a fifth this year as it sells a portion of the P30- billion worth of available inventory in its tourism estates.

The company will continue developing its vast landbank into residential projects and recurring income properties in line with its goal of becoming the country’s top builder of integrated tourism estates, a top executive said yesterday.

Against the backdrop of continued favorable economic conditions and tourism growth, the property developer will likely post a 20-percent uptick in revenues and net income, GERI president Ferdinand T. Santos said during the company’s annual stockholders meeting.

 â€œAll or most of the indicators indicate a continuing robust Philippine economy,” Santos said. The local economy is seen to grow 6-7.5 percent this year while foreign tourist arrivals is projected to jump to six million in 2014 and 10 million in 2016 from 4.7 million last year.

GERI has P30 billion worth of inventory for sale, composed of units in Boracay Newcoast, Twin Lakes in Batangas, Sta. Barbara Heights in Iloilo and Southwoods City in Cavite and Laguna.

In 2013, GERI’s net income climbed 29 percent to P341 million from P264 million a year earlier while revenues picked up 26 percent to P1.75 billion, both surpassing the 20-percent growth target.

It also marked the company’s third consecutive year of growth in sales and profitability. Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc. took over GERI, which was formerly Fil-Estate Land Inc., in 2011.

For this year, GERI targets a flat growth in reservation sales at P10 billion. In January to May, reservation sales hit P7.4 billion, Santos said.

To achieve its target, GERI is launching more components in existing integrated tourism estates, Santos said. The company will introduce P2.6 billion worth of inventory in the second phase of the Belmont luxury hotel, P1.6 billion for the third phase of Boracay Portico, and P490 million Shiraz in Twin Lakes.