Sta Lucia earns 23% more in Q1

MANILA, Philippines – Sta. Lucia Land Inc. (SLI) grew its earnings nearly a fourth in the first three months of the year on the back of higher real estate sales.
In a regulatory filing, SLI said its net income climbed 23 percent in the first quarter to P228 million from P185 million in the same period last year.
The company attributed the higher income to a 61-percent growth in revenues it saw during the quarter at P894 million.
SLI said gross revenues from real estate sales rose 45 percent year-on-year to P614 million.
“The growth was mainly driven by robust sales in horizontal and vertical projects,” SLI said.
To sustain its growth momentum for the rest of the year, SLI said it would continue to develop projects nationwide including locations such as Davao, Rizal, Batangas, Laguna and Pasig City.
As one of the country’s largest subdivision developers with presence in 10 regions across the country, SLI said it currently has a total of 43 ongoing projects in various stages.
The company earlier this year reported acquisitions of properties in Batangas and Iloilo with a combined size of 34.53 hectares as well as 16 joint venture agreements in Davao, Rizal, Pasig, Batangas and Laguna for properties having a combined size of 142.33 hectares.

Income surge for Sta. Lucia Land Incorporated

In a statement yesterday, the company said bottom line in 2014 reached P548 million from P300 million, while real estate revenues went up to P1.445 billion from P801 million.
“Majority of the growth came from the sales of Colinas Verdes Residential Estates (San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan), Monte Carlo Tower – Sta Lucia Residenze (Cainta, Rizal), Greenmeadows (Pavia, Iloilo), and Ponte Verde (Davao City),” Sta. Lucia said.
Net rental income from its shopping mall, the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall, inched up 3.4% to P255 million.
“The increase [in income] due to the opening of the mall expansion was slightly offset by increased structural upgrades and improvements expenses in the existing one,” the company explained.
As a result, earnings per share surged 128% to P.064 “due to the increased income as well as the booking of treasury shares.”
Gross profit margins on real estate sales remain at 47%, while net income margin rose to almost 24% from 22.6%.
Sta. Lucia currently has a total of 43 ongoing projects and remains focused on building large-scale master-planned subdivisions in Metro Manila’s nearby provinces and emerging cities.
Last month, it announced that it entered into 16 new joint venture agreements and acquired several properties in the outskirts of the metropolis, in line with plans to purchase up to 1,000 hectares (ha) of land this year. The new partnerships expanded its land bank by 142.33 ha in Davao, Rizal, Pasig City, Batangas and Laguna. The company also acquired a total of 34.53 ha in the provinces of Batangas and Iloilo.
Some of the projects are “extensions of existing developments,” such as Ponte Verde in Davao, Greenwoods Executive in Pasig City, Metropolis East in Rizal, Golden Meadows in Laguna and Metropolis in Iloilo.
Originally incorporated as Zipporah Mining and Industrial Corp., Sta. Lucia changed its primary purpose to that of a real estate company in 1996. Its portfolio consists of horizontal and vertical properties across the country, as well as its shopping mall in Cainta, Rizal.
Shares in the company gained two centavos or 2.53% to close at 81 centavos each on Thursday. — Daphne J. Magturo

Sta. Lucia Land adds nearly 180 hectares to landbank

LISTED developer Sta. Lucia Land, Inc. on Friday said it entered into 16 new joint venture agreements and acquired several properties outside Metro Manila, in line with plans to purchase up to 1,000 hectares (ha) of land this year.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange, Sta. Lucia said the new partnerships allowed it to expand its landbank by 142.33 hectares (ha) in Davao, Rizal, Pasig, Batangas and Laguna.
The company also acquired a total of 34.53 hectares in the provinces of Batangas and Iloilo.
“This is a testament to the continuing commitment of the company in focusing its projects in emerging and growing cities nationwide,” Sta. Lucia said.
Some of the projects are “extensions of existing developments,” such as Ponte Verde in Davao, Greenwoods Executive in Pasig, Metropolis East in Rizal, Golden Meadows in Laguna and Metropolis in Iloilo.
“We have new acquisitions almost every quarter. This year, we want to acquire up to 500 ha to 1,000 ha of land,” Sta. Lucia Chief Financial Officer David M. Dela Cruz said in a phone interview yesterday.
Asked about the joint venture model, he explained: “For example, we’re offered a 100-hectare lot and we develop it into 1,000 saleable lots. The ownership could be 50-50 or 60-40. The partner’s contribution is the land, and ours is development. We split the development according to the agreement.”
Originally incorporated in 1996 as Zipporah Mining and Industrial Corp., Sta. Lucia changed its primary purpose to that of a real estate company in 1996. Its portfolio consists of horizontal and vertical properties across the country, as well as a shopping mall in Cainta — the Sta. Lucia East Grand Mall.
Shares in the company shed two centavos or 2.35% to end the week at 83 centavos apiece. —with report from Krista Angela Montealegre