By Arra B. Francia, Senior Reporter

EARNINGS of Filinvest Development Corp. (FDC) surged 61% in the first quarter of 2019, following the strong performance of its property, banking, and power businesses.

The Gotianun-led conglomerate’s regulatory filing on Thursday showed that net income attributable to the parent rose to P2.77 billion in the three months ending March, against P1.72 billion in the same period a year ago.

This came after a 17% increase in revenues to P18.52 billion, versus P15.76 billion in the same period a year ago.

FDC’s banking unit contributed 41.1% of total revenues, followed by real estate operations with 37%. Operations of its power, sugar, and hotel accounted for 12.3%, 4.9%, and 4.7%, respectively.

East West Banking Corp. saw its net income climb 34% to P1.23 billion during the quarter, after revenues also firmed up by 30.9% to P8.76 billion. The listed lender attributed the increase to the improved lending and trading gains.

Fees and other income jumped 24.1% to P1.41 billion, while foreign exchange and trading gains were almost five times higher to P525.1 million during the period.

For Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI), revenues went up 11.8% to P8.08 billion, driving the 19.6% increase in net income to P2.06 billion.

FLI benefited from the completion of more office spaces last year, which started contributing to its financials this quarter. Mall and office leasing revenues jumped 37.6% to P1.87 billion, while real estate sales added 6.3% to P5.75 billion.

Meanwhile, FDC’s power business recorded strong contributions from its coal power plant and retail electricity operations. Net income soared 125.4% to P654.2 million, while revenues gained 25.7% to P2.36 billion.

Sugar operations contributed P212.2 million for the period, about seven times higher than the P30.9 million it generated in the first quarter of 2018. Higher sales volume and sales prices pushed revenues 21.2% higher to P912.7 million.

FDC continued to see growth for its hotel operations, as Quest Clark in Pampanga saw higher levels of occupancy, alongside higher average room rates in Crimson Mactan in Cebu. Crimson Boracay also started contributing to revenues after its soft opening last year. Net income then increased 82.5% to P148.1 million, following a 30.2% uptick in revenues to P883.7 million.

The company earlier disclosed that it will spend up to P38.9 billion in capital expenditures for the year, a big chunk of which will be used to expand its hotel operations in Clark, Pampanga.

“We start a new phase in the FDC story with our entry into infrastructure and logistics parks in New Clark City. Not only will these provide balance to our more cyclical property and banking segments and add another layer of diversity to our income mix, but these will also complement existing investments in the dynamic Clark corridor,” FDC President and Chief Executive Officer Josephine G. Yap said in a statement.

FDC has 2,600 additional keys across 10 new hotels in the pipeline, as it targets to have 5,000 keys under management by 2023.

Shares in FDC jumped 1.49% or 20 centavos to close at P13.66 each at the stock exchange on Thursday.

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