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ANCHOR Land Holdings Inc. told the Philippine Stock Exchange that
its profit last year surged on the back of the double-digit growth
in revenues from residential condominium sales.
Based on its annual report, Anchor Land’s net
income jumped by 83 percent to P103 million year on year as revenues
grew by 82 percent to P406 million mainly due to the “positive
response” to its Mayfair Tower and Mandarin Square projects.
At end-December, the 33-storey Mayfair Tower
along United Nations Avenue in Manila was 73 percent completed and
ready for turnover by the third quarter of this year. The 39-story
Mandarin Square, which is located in a 2,100-square-meter property
on Ongpin Street, Binondo, was 12 percent finished and is expected
to be completed by the first quarter of 2010. It will have a total
floor area of 69,000 square meters with 872 square meters devoted to
commercial space.
Its first residential condominium project called
Lee Tower was finished and sold out last year. Anchor Land launched
its fourth project late last year called the Solemare Park Suites in
Aseana Business Park in Parañaque.
“With the expansion mode and simultaneous
projects in the pipeline, the group is aggressively recruiting
personnel to increase its sales network and back room support,
filled up critical officer position and increased advertisement of
its projects and aggressive marketing effort,” the firm said in
its report.
With that, cost of real estate sold also inched
up by 7.2 percent to P266 million over a year ago mainly because of
the simultaneous development of two projects. Operating expenses
likewise rose 1.5 times to P67 million due to its aggressive
marketing strategy, office and showroom expansion and personnel
recruitment.
Anchor Land recently bought Gotamco Investment
Realty Corp, which owns 5 parcels of land with an aggregate area of
3,100 square meters along Ongpin Street in Binondo. Company
officials earlier said they are just waiting for the leases of the
current tenants to expire before they can start building a 50-story
residential condominium building, which is estimated to cost about
P2.5 billion. The still unnamed project is geared towards the
Filipino-Chinese market and businessmen.
The company sold 65 million new common shares to
the public last year, and another 21.66 million shares for an over
allotment option. The maiden share offering was equivalent to 25
percent of its outstanding capital stock after the initial public
offering, allowing Anchor Land to raise more than P770 million in
gross proceeds, bringing its market capitalization to P3.2 billion.
-- Likha C. Cuevas-Miel
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