CLI TO POUR P8B IN FRESH CAPITAL FOR CEBU PROJECTS

The Cebu-based company posted revenue growth of 53 percent to P3.56 billion

PROPERTY developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) is pouring in an estimated P8 billion in fresh investments for Cebu this year.

During the first quarter investors’ and analysts’ briefing on Monday, May 16, 2022, Jose Franco Soberano, the company’s executive vice president and chief operating officer, said this new investment will finance three projects in Cebu—a P2 billion residential project in Danao, P4 billion mixed-use Pristina North project and P2 billion residential development in Casuntingan, Mandaue City.

CLI has set aside P13 billion for capital expenditures to fund new purchases and other expenses, of which P2.6 billion was spent in the first quarter including P500 million for landbank.

Soberano said the Danao expansion is a CasaMira project located along the highway and will be part of a complex with a retail component. The project is scheduled for launching in the third quarter of this year.

Pristina North, on the other hand, is another mixed-use development that CLI will embark on in partnership with Erramon Aboitiz.

Soberano said the company will introduce a mid-rise residential development in a more than five-hectare property inside the Pristina North complex. CLI is set to launch this new project toward the end of the year.

“These three projects are still in the various stages of planning,” said Grant Cheng, the company’s chief finance officer.

First-quarter earnings

The Cebu-based developer ended the first quarter with a revenue growth of 53 percent to P3.56 billion from P2.3 billion in the first quarter last year with all business units registering stellar performance.

The surge in revenues was driven by real estate sales from a number of projects that have been increasing over the years. These have resulted in greater construction progress and consequently, higher revenue recognition.

Moreover, construction was in progress due to catch-up measures during the Covid-19 pandemic and is now in full swing in the listed company’s 15 VisMin sites. Sales take-up also surged to P4.5 billion or 36 percent more than the first quarter 2021’s P3.3 billion.

CLI’s rental revenues improved by 28 percent and are attributable to increases in lease contracts and new tenants in the newly completed Latitude Corporate Center. Hotel revenue grew fourfold with the reopening of local and international borders, reviving trade and tourism.

Management fees

Meanwhile, CLI’s property management arm posted a 34 percent hike in management fees from newly completed projects.

“We are pleased that we began the year strong with robust sales and swift construction pickup of new projects,” CLI chairman and chief executive officer Jose Soberano III told the local bourse. “We are on track to hit our growth target of at least 20 percent. We remain ready to make the most of opportunities presented by the fast-recovering VisMin economy.”

To date, CLI has sold 89 percent of all its projects in the various stages of development across VisMin. Completed projects are 96 percent sold; ongoing developments, 86 percent sold; and those launched in the first quarter of 2022, 80 percent sold.

CLI is also expected to collect over P12 billion take out value from strong turnover of newly completed projects such as MesaTierra Garden Residences in Davao, Latitude Corporate Center and 38 Park Avenue in Cebu, MesaVerte Residences and Velmiro Heights CDO in Cagayan de Oro and MesaVirre Garden Residences in Bacolod. /