CEBU, Philippines - Fueled by Cebu’s high demand for commercial space rentals and fast economic growth, Cebu Holdings Inc., (CHI) reported a record-breaking revenue of P1.35 billion in 2011, and pegged its net income at P424.33 million, a four percent growth surpassing the previous year’s good performance. During the recent CHI annual stockholders meeting, CHI president Francis O. Monera reported that the company’s healthy revenue performance was led by the commercial leasing, which contributed 62 percent to the 2011 revenues with P838 million comprised of mall leasing income and eOffice rentals.
Real estate sales brought in 18 percent, theater operations with six percent, interest and other income at four to 10 percent respectively.
Increase in mall revenue according to Monera is brought about by higher rental rates as well as higher occupancy at Ayala Center Cebu with the boom of its Active Zone, a lifestyle outlet hub, and The Terraces, a popular dining and events avenue set in a sustainable environment.
The company maintains its market dominance in the real estate and retail industries of Cebu, Monera said, with continuing 100 percent positive customer feedback from its customers covering its 2011 operations.
“As we move forward in the next couple of years, we will continue to ride and contribute to the growth story of Cebu and craft our development strategies to respond to the opportunities,” said Monera in his speech.
With the rental business being the company’s biggest contributor, the company has embarked on a major expansion of Ayala Center Cebu.
He said upon completion by next year, this expansion will bring in a third of the mall’s current gross leasable area or a total of 36,000 square-meters.
Ayala Center’s new expansion will house luxury brands and new concepts, introducing another level of lifestyle options for the Cebuano and regional market.
“This will strengthen the mall’s position as the premier lifestyle and entertainment destination in the region,” he said.
Together with its sister companies in Ayala Land, Monera said CHI will be launching a range of projects in the real estate and commercial businesses worth an estimated P10 billion in the next five years.
“With the success of subsidiary CPVDC’s initial foray into BPO office leasing, we are also finalizing plans for a BPO building within Cebu Business Park to strengthen our leasing portfolio and generate recurring revenue for the company,” he said.
As a company, with a major stake in the city’s continued growth, Monera added that CHI will also be considering investment opportunities in infrastructure development.
“We will be exploring projects which will not only compliment our projects, but strengthen the investment climate in Cebu as a whole,” he said.
Monera further reported that the company’s biggest and most innovative initiatives in 2011 was the launching of the Cebu Park District, which is the fusion of the brand identities of Cebu Business Park and Cebu I.T. Park, bridging the best elements of Cebu’s leading growth centers “as we become more aggressive in maximizing the district’s highly-strategic landscape and location.”
These two parks today compose the biggest twin integrated master-planned, mixed-use development Southern Philippines and are both certified as business and IT economic zones by the Philippine Economic Zone Authority (PEZA).