Listed property developer Sta. Lucia Land Inc. said its net income in the first semester rose by 90 percent to P1.43 billion from last year’s P757 million.
The company attributed this to the 63-percent hike in its revenues to P3.9 billion from last year’s P2.4 billion. It said the reduction in its income tax expense due to the Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises Act offset the increase in cost and operating expenses.
Gross rental income from the mall rose by 21 percent to P273 million from P225 million, as quarantine restrictions were partially eased during the period.
Total assets went up by 26 percent due to the temporary increase in cash as the company raised new long-term debt to refinance its more expensive liabilities. Total equity, meanwhile, increased by 13 percent as it continues to plow back earnings to finance its growth plans, the company said.
“Improvement in our financial results was driven basically by sales of residential lots which has shown resilience during the pandemic,” David Dela Cruz, the company’s CFO, said.
“As majority of our projects are in the fringes, or in the outskirts of the central business districts and major growth centers, they have become more practical as they offer bigger spaces, more affordable pricing and seen as ultimate beneficiaries of the Government’s aggressive infrastructure program which aims to interconnect the entire country.”
Sta. Lucia has a total of 115 ongoing projects, 60 or half of which are located in the high growth area of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon provinces. The company, whose developments are mostly in the second- or third-tier municipalities, has 25 projects in Davao while the rest are spread out in seven other regions.
The Sta. Lucia Group is also a leading developer of golf courses in the Philippines, having developed the largest number of golf courses in the country. It has also developed the 10.5-hectare Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall in Cainta, Rizal.