RCR, AREIT post higher earnings

MANILA, Philippines — Two of the country’s real estate investment trusts (REITs) grew their income from January to September this year.

The Gokongwei Group’s RL Commercial REIT Inc. (RCR), the Philippines’ largest real estate investment trust, recorded a net income of P3.1 billion, higher than the P633.8 million a year ago.

Revenues  reached P3.9 billion compared to only P719.4 million  on account of contributions from accretive acquisitions this yearband steady earnings from its resilient tenant base composed mostly of business process outsourcing (BPO) companies and traditional companies.

Compared to the previous quarter, third quarter revenues grew 13 percent to P160 million with the transfer of Robinsons Cyberscape Gamma to RCR via asset-for-share swap, following the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission  last August. RCR also added Robinsons Cybergate Bacolod to its portfolio of office assets.

RCR president and CEO Jericho Go said the infusion of two accretive assets shows the company’s commitment to continuously grow RCR.

“Less than a year since RCR’s landmark listing, we increased gross leasable area  by 13 percent from a large base and expanded our foothold to 10 cities. We continue to be on the lookout for opportunities to grow the company,” Go said.

RCR’s portfolio is now at  over 480,000 square meters (sqm) of GLA across 16 prime office assets. RCR entered the Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) in September 2021 with an asset size of 425,000 sqm.

Ayala-owned AREIT Inc., meanwhile, reported a net income  (excluding fair value change in investment properties and the one-time gain on finance lease) of P2.4 billion, up 65 percent, driven by revenues, which increased by 68 percent to P3.6 billion.

AREIT also reported an average occupancy rate of 97 percent and a rental collection rate of 98 percent as of September.

Against this backdrop, AREIT declared P0.49 per share in cash dividends from operations in the third quarter.This declaration brings the total dividends to P1.46 per share for the first nine months of 2022, up 12 percent.