RLC earnings up 10% on mall growth
Higher foot traffic in malls offset the weak residential market last year, allowing Robinsons Land Corp. (RLC) to book a 10-percent growth in its bottom line to P13.21 billion.
In a stock exchange filing on Friday, the Gokongwei-led developer said revenues inched up by 2 percent to P42.88 billion, buoyed by its investment portfolio of malls, offices, hotels and logistics.
“Despite headwinds, we remained agile, leveraging our diverse portfolio and strong balance sheet to drive profitability,” RLC president and CEO Mybelle Aragon-GoBio said in a disclosure.
“Our investment portfolio continues to be a key growth driver, while we take a more disciplined and strategic approach to our development portfolio, ensuring efficient capital allocation and maximization of returns,” GoBio added.
Broken down per business unit, Robinsons Malls recorded an 11-percent gain in its top line to P17.96 billion due to higher foot traffic and tenant sales.
Rental revenues likewise climbed by 10 percent to P12.58 billion.
This came after RLC debuted in the upscale market via Opus Mall in Quezon City, which opened last July and brought the company’s mall portfolio to 55 lifestyle centers.
As of end-December, RLC’s total mall leasable space stood at 1.68 million square meters (sq m), featuring at least 8,700 retailers.
Robinsons Offices, meanwhile, posted an 8-percent rise in its revenues to P7.95 billion on the back of rental growth across its developments.
Office occupancy was at 86 percent, or higher than Metro Manila’s average of 80.6 percent, data from real estate investment management firm Colliers Philippines show.
RLC currently operates 32 office buildings spanning 793,000 sq m of gross leasable space.
Hotel business surges
The hospitality segment under Robinsons Hotels and Resorts (RHR) booked a 31-percent surge in revenues to P6 billion on “strong performance across all brands.”
RHR’s portfolio consists of 26 hotels with over 4,000 rooms.
At the same time, net sales at RLC Residences dipped by 5 percent to P20.18 billion, reflecting the challenging environment for the residential sector.
Colliers earlier reported there were 26,300 unsold condominium units in the National Capital Region, majority of which were in the middle-income market and worth P3.6 million to P12 million each.
