GLOBAL-ESTATE Resorts, Inc. (GERI) reported a 41% growth in its net income attributable to parent during the first quarter of 2019 driven by higher rental income and hotel operations, and sustained sales of its residential projects.
In a regulatory filing on Tuesday, the leisure and tourism arm of Megaworld Corp. said it booked P447.48 million in attributable profit during the period, versus the P338.5 million recorded in the same period last year.
Revenues, excluding non-recurring gains, rose 20% to P1.7 billion during the first quarter from P1.4 billion booked in the same period last year.
“We believe that we have made the right investments to secure our rental income early on as this is now providing stability in GERI’s earnings, which is evident in our results the past several years. We plan to further solidify this side of the business as we add more investment properties across our lineup of tourism townships and integrated lifestyle communities in the country,” Monica T. Salomon, president of GERI, said in a statement.
Rental income more than doubled to P180 million during the three-month period, thanks to the increase in occupancy and additional leasable area with the completion of new office spaces. Specifically, this was driven by revenues from the Southwoods Office Towers and the Southwoods Mall, its first full-scale mall, both located in Laguna.
Hotel operations generated 78% higher revenues to P171 million, as it opened new hotels in Boracay and Batangas last year. GERI is set to open the 450-room Belmont Hotel Boracay this year.
Residential sales also grew by 5% to P1.24 billion from P1.18 billion last year. The company launched new residential developments in the Twin Lakes and Southwood City last year.
Currently, GERI has five tourism estates and two integrated lifestyle communities across the country that covers about 3,000 hectares. These are the Twin Lakes in Laurel, Batangas; Southwoods City in Biñan, Laguna and Carmona, Cavite; Alabang West in Las Piñas City; Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island, Aklan; Sta. Barbara Heights in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo; Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal; and The Hampton Caliraya in Lumban-Cavinti Laguna.
Shares in GERI went down by 1.49% or 0.02 centavos to close at P1.32 each at the stock exchange on Tuesday. — Vincent Mariel P. Galang
