By Honey Madrilejos-Reyes
Reporter
LISTED Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) reported a 39.5-percent jump in net profit for the fiscal year ending September 2006 to P1.718 billion versus P1.231 billion in 2005, the company said in a statement Wednesday. Gross revenues also improved by 29.7 percent to P6.643 billion from the previous year’s P5.119 billion.
RLC president and chief operating officer Frederick D. Go attributed the higher figures to the combined strengths of all the company’s business divisions, namely, commercial centers, high-rise buildings, housing and land development and hotels.
“All our business units performed very well as a result of the strategic initiatives we have pursued in recent years. Each business unit has expansion programs that will grow our investment property portfolio in malls, offices, and hotels as well as increase our real-estate sales of condominiums, subdivision land and houses,” Go said.
The commercial centers division, which develops, leases and manages RLC’s shopping malls all over the country, contributed nearly half of the revenue at P3.22 billion. RLC is majority-controlled by the Gokongwei group.
In its fiscal 2006, RLC was operating 18 shopping malls—six in Metro Manila and 12 in other urban areas throughout the Philippines. Five of its malls now house call centers and business process outsourcing (BPO) operations, a new development in the company’s business environment that is expected to grow significantly in the next few years.
The company is now constructing The Midtown Wing, an expansion area in Robinsons Place Manila; Robinsons Place Otis 888, a strip mall fronting a residential development; and Robinsons Place Dumaguete. It would soon start the construction of malls in Bulacan and Tagaytay as it continues to search for ideal locations in key Metro Manila and provincial areas nationwide.
Meanwhile, the office and residential buildings division posted a 90-percent growth in revenues at P2.03 billion.
Go said their office buildings have attracted top players in the BPO industry, while its residential condominiums are doing very on strong domestic and international demand.
“Robinsons Cybergate Center 2 is now operational and will contribute to the rental revenue generated by office spaces owned by RLC in Robinsons Cybergate 1, Robinsons Summit Center, Robinsons Equitable Tower and Galleria Corporate Center,” Go said. The company’s total office area portfolio in the buildings division alone now stands at 120,000 square meters.”
Strong domestic sales and the rapid expansion of its international marketing operations from North America, Europe and the Middle East, have boosted preselling efforts of residential condominiums and other upper-middle class products developed by the division.
The housing and land development division, on the other hand, reported revenues of P488 million, a 9 percent growth over the previous year. It develops and sells low- and middle-cost residential lots and houses.
The hotels division registered a major turnaround in 2006. Gross revenues totaled P904 million, up 81 percent from 2005, primarily due to the full operation of the deluxe 260 room Crowne Plaza Hotel within the Galleria Complex.
As of September last year, RLC’s hotels division had an average occupancy rate of 68 percent. Apart from Crowne Plaza, the other hotels operated by the company are Holiday Inn Galleria Manila, Cebu Midtown Hotel; and Robinsons Apartelle.
At the end of the fiscal year, the company relaunched its shares in an international equity offering. A total of 932.8 million shares were offered to both local and international buyers, generating $223 million.
For fiscal year 2007, RLC said it would spend around $111 million to fund various projects. The proposed capital expenditure would be funded by the proceeds from its follow-on offering.
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