Wednesday, April 23, 2008 SM bares increase in income
SM DEVELOPMENT Corporation (SMDC), owned by leading mall operator Henry Sy, has posted an increase of 125 percent in its real estate sales in the first quarter of 2008.
SMDC president Roger Cabuñag said from January to March, the firm recorded about P575 million rise in its real estate sales as against the P256 million during the same period last year.
This resulted in a 173 percent increase in gross profit from real estate operations to P240 million.
“We are pleased with SMDC’s initial results for the year. We have started on the right track, as evidenced by the doubling of our sales revenues during the first three months of 2008,” Cabuñag said during its annual stockholders meeting at the Mall of Asia last Tuesday.
He added that “the encouraging sales performance of the company indicates the market’s continued acceptance of our projects, which drives us to further improve our product and service delivery throughout the rest of the year, and beyond.”
The company’s net income, on the other hand, stood at P14 million, due mainly to unrealized market-to-market losses during the period on investments held for trading which was somehow tempered by the realized gains from sale of investments, amounting to P198 million.
SMDC still holds substantial marketable securities in its portfolio as part of its asset management operations. These will be liquidated to support future operations.
To date, SMDC has five ongoing projects, namely, Chateau Elysee in Parañaque City; Lindenwood Residences in Muntinlupa; and Mezza, Berkeley and Grass Residences in Quezon City.
Except for Lindenwood Residences, which is a residential subdivision, all are residential condominium projects.
For this year, SMDC intends to launch two to three more projects. One would be the Sea Residences within the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City; the other is the Field Residences in Sucat, Parañaque City; and possibly a third, which is the Wind Residences in Tagaytay City. (MSN/Sunnex)
