Gotianun-led Filinvest REIT Corp. (FILREIT) has renewed and signed about 20,380 square meters (sq.m. ) of office space as of the end of first half.
That is about 86 percent of its current leases expiring in 2022.
Maricel Brion-Lirio, FILREIT president, said in a statement, only a small 4 percent did not renew and the balance of 10 percent is under negotiation with a high probability of renewal.
Brion-Lirio said aside from the lease renewals, the company had newly signed leases in the second quarter worth 4,150 sq.m. coming from the business process outsourcing sector and a flexible space facility provider.
“The lease terms range from five to 10 years which is a good indication of the locators’ long-term confidence in the company,” she said.
“We are encouraged to see locators starting to come back but what we are observing is that they are expanding on a smaller scale and at a slower pace. BPO companies, which comprise 91 percent of our tenant base, continue to lead the demand but they are still taking a wait-and-see attitude before they pursue their major expansion plans,” she added.
FILREIT posted an average rate of 88 percent occupancy in the first half of 2022.
FILREIT’s profit in the first half of the year declined 32.75 percent to P706.03 million from P1.05 billion in the same period last year.
Revenues dropped 13.68 percent to P1.64 billion from P1.9 billion last year.
“We are in a period of transition in the office leasing business following the re-opening of the economy and the new trend of work on site and work at home hybrid setup. Many of our locators’ expansion plans were still on hold during the first half of the year although we continued to lock in the expiring leases,” said Brion-Lirio.
FILREIT’s portfolio consists of 17 Grade A office buildings totaling over 300,000 sq.m. of gross leasable area valued by an independent appraisal company at P48.5 billion.
Of these, 16 of the 17 buildings are in Northgate Cyberzone in Filinvest City in Alabang, a special economic zone, and information technology park while another building is located in the gateway of Cebu IT Park in Lahug, Cebu City.
