Cebu Landmasters on track to hit P1.7-billion income target

MANILA, Philippines — Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) is on track to hit its net income target of P1.7 billion for the year as it continues to benefit from strong demand for its various housing projects, the property firm said.

This year’s target is 31 percent higher than the P1.24 billion earnings the company posted last year.

It is also on track to hit its revenue target of P5.3 billion for the year as it continues to grow its market share, the company said in a presentation to analysts.

In Metro Cebu, the company remains the top local housing developer with a 12 percent share in the condominium market and an 18 percent share in the house and lot segment.

It has been enjoying robust reservation sales, which rose by 24 percent to P2.68 billion during the quarter, putting the company on track to hitting P7 billion for the year.

Since it braved the local stock market last year, the company has been able to grow its landbank by 64 percent to 1.031 million square meters from 628,958 sqm.

The landbank is strategically distributed in Cebu (330,586 sqm or 32 percent); rest of Visayas (301,096 sqm with 29 percent) and Mindanao (399,827 sqm with 39 percent).

In the first quarter, the company posted a double-digit income growth to P498.7 million, up 17 percent from P425.6 million.

Total revenues also posted an increase of 14 percent to P1.26 billion mainly from the construction progress of the company’s ongoing projects. Likewise, rental revenues grew 31 percent for the quarter to P11.89 million due to higher occupancy and lease rates increases.

“We are very pleased with our performance for the first three months, this is the highest recorded quarterly net income and we are well-positioned to achieve another banner year,” said CLI CEO Jose Soberano III.

During the quarter, the company formally launched the new Garden-series condo in Bacolod and a Casa Mira project in Dumaguete, firming up its presence in the Visayas.

These projects significantly contributed to the P2.7 billion reservation sales, a 24 percent increase from the prior year and reaching 38 percent of its P7 billion full-year goal.

“We remain bullish about our prospects for the rest of the year as we see a sustained momentum in our real estate sales and our continuous drive to grow our recurring income” Soberano said.