Italpinas earnings grow 69% on sustained sales from new projects in Q1

Profits of green property developer Italpinas Development Corp. (IDC) surged 69% in the first quarter due to a double-digit growth in revenues and higher interest income from sales.

The listed firm said in a regulatory filing Thursday its net income for the three-month period stood at P15.622 million, up from last year’s P9.26 million.

Its net sales likewise grew 25% to P134.46 million, attributable to the launch of new projects such as the first phase of Miramonti and the second phase of Primavera City. The latter, it said in a statement, was already 50% sold as of end March.

The company said it was optimizing capital expenditures to help preserve cash amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. General and administrative expenses fell 4% to P34.29 million while finance costs dropped 35% to P8.84 million.

However, gross expenses at the end of the quarter rose 30% to P111.79 million due to a 53% jump in cost of sales to P77.49 million.

“Despite the expansion in its operations due to increasing number of projects, the company is continuously implementing measures to cut-cost. Further, there was a decrease in fixed overhead brought about by the COVID period,” IDC said.

“We believe that after the COVID situation, green buildings are more relevant than ever before. Well-ventilated buildings with direct access to outdoors spaces and presence of abundant natural lights and other sustainable features are more attractive to the market now than before,” IDC Chairman and CEO Romolo Nati said in the statement.

He added the continued rise in the company’s sales despite the pandemic “is a confirmation that market interest is definitely shifting towards green and accessible real estate products outside the main cities.”

Shares in IDC at the stock exchange climbed nine centavos or 4.48% to P2.10 each on Thursday. —