FLI profit falls on weak office rentals
Filinvest land inc. (Fli), the property development arm of the Gotianun Group, said its attributable income in the first quarter fell 8 percent to P677.76 million from last year’s P736.31 million due to weaker office rentals.
Gross revenues from residential sales and rentals came in at P4.14 billion for the period, flat compared to last year’s P4.16 billion.
Real estate sales rose to P2.69 billion, 9 percent higher than last year’s P2.46 billion, due to continued construction progress and high reservation sales.
Reservation sales in the first quarter reached P4.39 billion, an increase of 28 percent compared to the same period last year. the increase in reservation sales was due to high sales from overseas Filipino workers (OFWS) and strong demand for housing products in laguna, Cavite, Rizal, Bulacan and Pampanga.
“We are pleased with the continued growth of our residential revenues, and we expect to sustain this momentum as the economy, both here and abroad, continues to open. Our OFWS are starting to gain traction once again. We plan to boost our international sales network further and improve our digital and online platforms to reach out to more OFW markets abroad,” tristan las Marias, the company’s president, said.
“Fli will continue accelerating construction completions and rolling out projects in emerging markets with large unserved housing demand. We anticipate an improvement in rental revenues going forward now that the traffic has improved in malls and rental concessions will be reduced.”
Rental and related services fell by 14 percent to P1.45 billion from last year’s P1.69 billion mainly due to the decline in office leasing revenues as a result of lower occupancy caused by the pre-termination of leases from Philippine offshore gaming operator (POGO) tenants, mainly composed of Chinese clients.
the company is also set to issue its debt paper worth P11.9 billion.
Josephine Gotianun Yap, the company’s CEO, said the funds generated from the proposed bond issue would be used to support the company’s capital expenditures and service debt repayments within 2022. Fli aims to expand its leasing business to reach 2.1 million square meters of gross leasable area in 2026 and is ready to launch P30 billion worth of residential projects.
“We are grateful for this development as we reach our growth targets for our leasing and residential businesses,” Yap said.
the said bond issuance will be the third and last tranche of the P30 billion bond program of Fli as registered with the securities and exchange Commission last October 2020.