CLI net income up 66% to P1.29 billion in 2017

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu Landmasters Inc., saw its net income rise by 66 percent last year to P1.29 billion buoyed by real estate sales, as the company remains bullish on the property market in Visayas and Mindanao.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange yesterday, the Cebu-based property firm said it surpassed its P1.2 billion income target as revenues also rose to P3.93 billion, up 66 percent from P2.36 billion in 2016.

Chairman and CEO Jose Soberano III said 2017 was a banner year and the firm expects continued growth this year.

Sales from the company's diversified portfolio of housing, offices and hospitality projects, accounted for the record income.

The property developer said real estate sales last year hit P3.87 billion from P2.23 billion in 2016.

CLI attributed this revenue increase to on-track construction progress and record sales of its various developments.

Launched in 2015, the Casa Mira Towers Labangon, MesaVerte Residences in Cagayan de Oro, Baseline Center Phase 1 in Cebu City (where Citadines Cebu City, Baseline Premier and Baseline HQ are located) and Casa Mira South Cebu have already reached fully-sold status and are expected to be completed and delivered on time this year, the firm said.

The company also noted rise in its leasing business.

This segment saw a 17 percent hike in earnings to P45.6 million from the previous year's P38.87 billion.

CLI intends to grow its leasing business significantly by 2019 with the scheduled completion of Latitude Corporate Center, Baseline Retail, and start of operations of its hospitality project, Citadines Cebu City, Soberano said.

CLI expects seven projects already in the pipeline to provide recurring income by 2020. These are lyf Cebu City, Citadines Riverside Davao, Citadines Bacolod, Astra Hotel in Mandaue Cebu, Astra Corporate Center Mandaue Cebu, Astra Center Mall in Mandaue Cebu and 38 Park Office in IT Park Cebu.

Cumulative reservation sales for all its projects breached the P4-billion target at P4.58 billion or 55.6 percent higher than the 2016 level.

The company expects to surpass its 2017 performance as it continues to expand.

This year CLI is set to launch 20 more projects across the VisMin bringing its portfolio to 66 projects in different stages of development.

The developer expects all these to translate to a P7-billion sales target and push revenues to P5.3 billion in 2018, or a 35 percent increase from 2017’s goal.

Target net income is set at P1.7 billion, or 31 percent more than the previous year.

Five CLI landmark projects launched last year have already started construction – MesaTierra Garden Residences in Davao, 38 Park Avenue in Cebu IT Park, Latitude Corporate Center in Cebu Business Park, Casa Mira Coast (CLI’s first project in Negros Oriental), and MesaVirre Garden Residences (CLI’s first project in Bacolod).

Soberano said the property market in VisMin growth areas remain bullish. He said: “The Philippine government’s decentralization push – notably the 'Build Build Build program' - will unlock land values and improve connectivity outside Metro Manila.”

Part of this infrastructure program is the planned expansion of international airports in major destinations such as Cebu, Bohol, Bacolod, Iloilo, and Davao that will allow foreign tourists to bypass Manila.

Reports from the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) show that the Visayas region will zoom ahead of other regions in the next five years and is expected to outpace the projected 7 to 8 percent growth for the Philippines.