Prime Lands Residencies 3rd quarter boosted by red-hot housing market
Prime Lands Residencies PLC delivered some robust top and bottom line performance in the three months ended December 31, 2021 (3Q22) as the company rode on the increased appetite for vertical living and the alltime high prices.
The company, which offers affordable luxury apartments in Colombo and the outskirts and other sprawling cities, reported revenues of Rs.2.64 billion for the Octoberdecember quarter, an increase of 25 percent over the same period in 2020.
Residential real estate activity around the world and in Sri Lanka reached highs as the pandemic upended the working and living styles of most people.
Those who were living in the world’s most hustling and bustling cities for years shifted to the suburbs and the countryside with remote working came into being, while others drew into the excitement offered by vertical living in the city and the enhanced convenience it offered for their routines.the global commodities prices boom added a flywheel to the housing prices around the world, and in Sri Lanka the prices of houses and apartments hit the highest levels in the final quarter of 2021 nearly in 10 years, according to the House Price Index compiled by the Lankapropertyweb Research. According to the index, between 4Q 2021 and 2020, the apartment values increased by 17.68 percent with the selling price of a 3 bed room unit in Colombo having risen by 24.11 percent.
In this environment, the developers and the realtors are at a very strong position as there has been a shift towards vertical living in Sri Lanka and also a preference for housing than for lands given the exponential increase in construction and labour costs.
Riding on this wave of redhot housing market, Prime Lands Residencies reported earnings of 50 cents a share Rs.449.9 million for the quarter under review compared to earnings of 38 cents a share or Rs.285.4 million in the same period in 2020, which was a 58 percent increase.
For the nine months through December, 31 2021, the company reported earnings of Rs.1.28 a share or Rs.1.16 billion compared to earnings of 89 cents a share or Rs.665.9 million in the corresponding period in 2020.
In the nine months, the company generated revenues of Rs.6.34 billion, up 15 percent.
“The availability of relatively lowcost financing opportunities from banks and financial Institutions on prevailing low interest rates together with real estate, which has been a secured investment with high return on investment, has increased the demand for real estate”, company’s Co-chairperson, Sandamini Perera stated on the financial results.
Prime Lands (Pvt) Limited has 80 percent stake in Prime Lands Residencies.