by Zinnia B. Dela PeñaPhilippine Daily Inquirer
MANILA, Philippines - Banking on a resurgent property market, Eton Properties Philippines Inc., the real estate arm of the Lucio Tan Group of Companies, expects its net income to more than double this year to P700 million. Following strong first quarter results that saw its profit rise more than 10-fold on brisk take-up of its residential projects.
“We have reasons to be bullish in 2010. Growth will be driven by the strong results of the real estate business, boosted by the country’s successful first automated national elections,” said Danilo Ignacio, Eton’s president and chief operating officer.
From January to March this year, Eton posted a net income of P185 million compared with only P18 million in the same period in 2009. Total revenues more than doubled to P974 million from P352 million a year earlier.
Ignacio said the company is poised to sustain this upward trend with total reservation sales surging 98 percent in the first four months of the year. “Our reservation sales from the start of the year have been very strong with March 2010 sales being the highest in Eton ’s history. We didn’t see any wait-and-see attitude on the part of our buyers and investors prior to the election. With the relatively peaceful elections over, we foresee that this boom will continue and strong numbers will keep pouring in,” he said.
The significant surge in revenues resulted from the ongoing construction of various residential projects such as Eton Residences Greenbelt, Eton Baypark Manila, One Archers Place, South Lake Village at Eton City, The Manors at North Belton Communities, Eton Parkview Greenbelt, Belton Place and Eton Emerald Lofts.
Ignacio said leasing income from the company’s newly-opened commercial centers and office projects — Centris Station and Cyberpod Centris in Quezon City and Cyberpod Corinthian in Ortigas – boosted Eton’s top line.
“We have a happy problem of several BPO tenants vying for the same space compared to just several months ago when demand was slow. The outsourcing industry sees increased growth prospects in 2010 and these results in increased demand for office space. Right now we are already in the planning stage for the second BPO office in Eton Centris,” Ignacio said.
He said the recently-launched Eton Tower Makati, Eton’s fourth Makati residential condominium with a SOHO (small office home office) component, has been selling rapidly, making it the company’s fastest selling high-rise project so far.
Slated for turnover by December 2013, Eton Tower Makati will offer a total of 980 residential and SOHO units as well as serviced apartments.
Unit prices are pegged at between P2.1 million and P7.4 million each. The company has lined up 10 new projects this year, two of which were already launched early in the year. The company has launched 29 projects in the first three years of its operations and is expected to end 2010 with a total of 36.
Aside from Eton Tower Makati, other residential projects scheduled for launch this year are West Wing Villas, River Grove and the first condominium building within the 12-hectare Eton Centris at the corner of EDSA and Quezon Avenue.
West Wing Villas is the third phase of North Belton Communities, the group’s first foray into the middle-income market through wholly-owned unit Belton Communities. Situated on a 5.2-hectare property, the project will make available three to six bedroom house-and-lot units.
River Grove, on the other hand, will rise on a 5.7-hectare lot within Eton City - the company’s nearly 1,000-hectare township development in Sta. Rosa Laguna. The project, which will feature lot cuts averaging 500 square meters, is targeting the upper middle market.
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