DEVELOPERS grew their profit 22.1 percent in the first quarter, booking higher real estate sales and more rental revenues, said online stockbroker Colfiancial.com.
But the stockbroker summarized the realtors’ results as “mixed.” Colfinancial said of the companies it monitors, Ayala Land and SM Prime Holdings Inc. posted results in line with estimates while Megaworld Corp. Robinsons Land Corp. and Vista Land and Lifescape Inc. performed better than expected.
Colfinancial said residential revenues on the average grew 27.3 percent as the growth momentum from the fourth quarter of last year was sustained.
Property developers continued to book higher revenues as construction of projects continued and higher collections from buyers led to higher sales bookings. Ayala Land led the growth with a 45.3 percent increase.
Sales takeup for the period slipped 6.8 percent as developers impose higher reservation.
“We have previously expressed our concern over the sluggish take-up sales since the third quarter. Softness in sales is likely to persist until we see lower interest rates,” Colfinancial said.
Mall revenues jumped 9.1 percent as higher foot traffic and tenant sales led to higher rental revenues for mall operators. Operational gross leasable area (GLA), foot traffic, and tenant sales were also higher, as higher foot traffic helped push not only rental revenues higher but also cinema and other revenues of the malls.
Office revenues were flat as challenges persist.
“New offices and programmed rental escalation were the drivers of growth for most developers. Most developers reported higher office leasing revenues,” Colfinancial.com said.
“The industry continues to face elevated vacancy rates given the slower demand as BPO and other companies shift to work-from-home setups,” it added.
Hotel revenues grew 20.8.
Higher number of room keys, higher room rates, and higher average occupancy led to the industry growth, the stockbroker said.
