Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC), one of the Philippines’ leading real estate companies, recorded a 96% YoY net income growth in the third quarter of the year to PHP3.2 billion from PHP1.7 billion in the same period last year. This led to a 44% increase in net income in the first nine months of 2018 to PHP6.6 billion from PHP4.6 billion of last year.

RLC’s 9M18 consolidated revenue posted a 31% YoY increase to PHP21.8 billion from PHP16.6 billion, while overall EBITDA grew by 35% to PHP12.6 billion from PHP9.4billion in the same period. The robust growth was driven by sustained performance of the investment portfolio which rose by 14% YoY to PHP13.2 billion in 9M18 driven by malls and offices divisions and the remarkable performance of the development portfolio which surged by 72% to PHP8.7 billion from PHP5.0 billion in 9M18 due to impressive residential division sales and significant gains in land sales to newly formed joint ventures with Asian property conglomerates.

“The strong earnings is a result of the strategic initiatives we initiated to respond to the market and the creation of new revenue streams for the company,” said RLC President Frederick Go.

RLC successfully reorganized its residential business, improved product development, beefed up its sales force, and benefitted from the influx of overseas buyers. Realized revenues grew by 29% to PHP6.5 billion, while ebit increased by 26% to PHP1.8 billion in the 9 months.

The company’s newly created division, called the Infrastructure & Integrated Developments Division, builds warehouses for lease, sells institutional lots, and acquires vast tracks of land that can help sustain our business for the long term. Revenues for the division finished at PHP2.2 billion with ebit of PHP1.9 billion for the 3 quarters.

RLC also beefed up its investment portfolio with the renovation, expansion and new locations of malls. The division reached a milestone, opening its 50th mall in Tuguegarao last July, bringing total mall leaseable space to 1.4m sqm. Mall revenues rose by 13% to total PHP8.8 billion, with ebit rising 10% to PHP3.3 billion.

The Offices division now has 18 operational sites with a total net leasable area of 440,000 sqm. Revenues for the division increased by 17% to PHP2.8 billion, as ebit grew by 14% to PHP2.0 billion due to the new buildings recently leased out and the growing BPO sector.

The company is undertaking a massive buildup of its Hotels and Resorts Division organization to allow it to compete in the very challenging and crowded segment. The division was saddled by the weaker sales of some of its properties, pre-operating expenses of new and upcoming hotels, as well as expected higher overhead in the head office. Revenues increased by 8% to PHP1.5 billion but ebit dropped by 17% to PHP315 million.

In overseas, the China project has seen significant progress in just a short period of time. Pre-selling has commenced for the residential high-rise apartments of phase 1. To date, 740 of 795 units or over 90% of the condominiums has been booked. Sales of the villas are expected to follow soon. RLC has shown its international expertise through the good execution of the project so far. The Company expects that recognition of revenues from the Chengdu project will start next year.

RLC continues to look for suitable properties to develop and for landbanking across the country.