Resilience and adaptability fuel CPG’s growth plans
Despite a challenging 2020 for the real estate sector, the listed Philippine real estate firm Century Properties Group, Inc. [CPG:PM] stood firm and generated reasonable profits, maintained good liquidity levels and a healthy balance sheet, and is moving forward with its horizontal affordable housing expansion plans this year.
Company President and Chief Executive Officer Marco R. Antonio underscored CPG’s strength amidst the continued COVID-19 crisis. He said the 35-year firm is focusing on its resilient businesses while it prepares the organization for a post-pandemic economic recovery.
“We remain very optimistic with the affordable segment business of CPG under PHirst Park Homes, in partnership with Mitsubishi Corporation. Strong sales in our affordable housing business reaffirmed the real demand coming from local end users and overseas Filipino workers, who are looking for good quality homes in safe communities that are located in key growth centers,” Mr. Antonio said.
PHirst’s reservation sales for the first half of 2021 amounted to P4.4 billion, 38% higher than P3.2 billion in the same period last year. In terms of units, reservation sales reached 2,327 or 28% more than 1,819 units in the comparative period. Total collections for the first half of 2021 hit P2.03 billion, a 172% increase over P744 million in the same period last year.
CPG’s first homebuyer brand launched PHirst Park Homes General Trias, Cavite project in July and Baliwag, Bulacan in August — its eighth and ninth communities — and this will be followed by two more project launches in South Luzon for the rest of 2021.
Although the initial stages of the pandemic in 2020 imposed strict quarantines that hampered construction activities, CPG completed two residential buildings with 1,015 condominium units in its Common
wealth, Quezon City project. PHirst Park Homes completed 659 house and lot units, bringing its total completions to 1,536 units. This quarter, CPG Managing Director Jose Carlo R. Antonio said the company is turning over two buildings at the Residences at Azure North in San Fernando, Pampanga and in December, the Century Spire building at Century City, Makati.
With quarantine measures also disrupting sales and collection activities, the company kept its lines open by improving its digital platforms to communicate with clients. Through online channels, the company was able to transact and deliver services. The Century Digital Homebuying Experience brought the customer journey online — from marketing and unit viewing, to documentation and turnover. By ramping up its digitalization efforts, CPG made its processes more convenient, staying true to its promise
of helping homebuyers find their dream Century home.
Part of the company’s business resilience and adaptability measures is looking after the welfare of its workforce. CPG made sure its employees, site personnel and construction laborers are safe by providing regular COVID testing and PPE supplies. Aside from putting safety protocols in place in the workplace, the company enhanced the disinfection measures and invested in sanitation equipment for its office and residential properties.
CPG’s commercial properties Centuria Medical Makati and Century City Mall remained open to provide healthcare services and essential supplies through the quarantine periods. Centuria Medical, which houses a 24/7 Urgent Care Clinic and more than 300 outpatient medical and healthcare locators, is now also an accredited vaccination facility by the Department of Health and the City Government of Makati. This serves as the vaccination site of 5,000 CPG company employees, inorganic employees, accredited sales agents, construction laborers, and accredited third-party service personnel as the company rolls out its CPG VacciNATION program, which will provide COVID-19 vaccines 100% free to its workforce, said CPG Vice-Chairman John Victor R. Antonio.