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| Message to the Stockholders |
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| The year 2006 was a favorable one for the Philippine real estate industry. The country’s economy improved last year by 5.4% in real GDP terms. The implementation of tax reforms at the start of the year proved to be beneficial to the economy, improving the government’s fiscal position and overall business and investment climate. Sustained economic growth
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availability of long-term and low mortgage financing, growing OFW remittances, and the proliferation of call centers and business process outsourcing (BPO) companies greatly benefited the Philippine properties industry.
We witnessed strong sales in our residential condominium and subdivision properties and improved businesses in our malls, offices and hotels. Over the years, we have established a solid track record of developing quality products in all sectors we compete in and built a trusted brand name recognized throughout the country.
RLC’s position is clearly manifested in our overall profitability and financial results for the fiscal year ended September 2006. Total gross revenues increased by 30% to PhP6.643 B from last year’s PhP5.119 B, buoyed by the growth of all our divisions particularly the buildings and hotels divisions. EBIT, likewise, posted a 68% growth to PhP2.287 B from PhP1.359 B due to higher revenues and more efficient operations. EBITDA stood at PhP3.553 B and EBITDA margins improved to 53% from 51% last fiscal year. The foregoing resulted in a significant 40% growth in Net Income to PhP1.725 B in the fiscal year from PhP1.232 B.
The High-Rise Buildings Division realized gross revenues was
recorded at PhP1.070 B this fiscal year, a 6%, increase. The completion
of its projects Robinsons Place Residences, Galleria Regency and the
Bloomfields residential subdivision in Quezon City, led to this increase.
The Division has pre-sold most of its projects namely, One and Two
Adriatico Place in Manila, Fifth Avenue Place in Fort Bonifacio, One
Gateway Place and Gateway Garden Ridge in Pioneer and are just
waiting project construction for sales to be realized. There were also
three new projects launched last year: Gateway Garden Heights,
Mckinley Park Residences and Three Adriatico Place. Market reception
was also encouraging for these projects. To date, the division has a
total of P3.345 B of unrealized sales. The Division still enjoys stable and
recurring lease income from its office property assets in the Galleria
Corporate Center, Robinsons Equitable Tower and Robinsons Summit
Center. These office buildings have become the top choices of business
process outsourcing companies and call centers due to their prime
locations and technical design. Thus, rental income increased by 6% to
PhP 221 M as all of the office inventory were fully taken up. The
Division also completed the construction of Robinsons Cybergate
Center Tower 1, a building designed especially for business process
outsourcing companies and call centers. Leasable space were
immediately taken up and will boost rental revenue in FY2006. The
division reported EBIT of PhP 205 M, an increase of 10%.
The Housing and Land Division’s business, grew by another 13%,
reporting realized gross revenues of P448 M, due to improved housing
demand. The impressive result was due to the strong uptake and higher
level of completion of existing projects like Robinsons Vineyard, South
Square Village, San Lorenzo Homes, Residenza Milano, Bloomfields
Davao, Bloomfields Tagaytay and Davao Highlands. The division’s
newly launched residential projects, Rosewood Parkhomes and
Fernwood Parkhomes, have been well received by the market and is
expected to contribute to realized gross revenues in the future. The
division’s EBIT rose to PhP156 M, a 16% improvement from last year.
The Hotel Division generated slightly lower gross revenues of PhP500 M
from PhP522 M with new hotel Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila
contributing only in the last quarter of the fiscal year. The other hotel
properties, Holiday Inn Galleria Manila (formerly Manila Galleria Suites),
Cebu Midtown Hotel and Robinsons Apartelle, still enjoyed higher than
last year’s occupany rates, ending the year at 72%, 80% and 63%,
respectively. Newly opened Crowne Plaza has also been well received.
Start up costs and expenses of Crowne Plaza weighed down on
profitability of the hotel division as a loss of PhP27M was recorded vs
PhP44 M profit in fiscal year 2004.
Your company’s financial position remained solid with stronger cash flow and low gearing. Total assets stood at PhP32.76 B, while Stockholders’ Equity rose to PhP14.516 B from last year’s PhP13.532 B. At the end of September 2006, our financial debt to equity ratio rose to 0.32:1 vis-à-vis last year’s 0.15:1.
Review of Operations
Investment Properties
RLC’s investment properties, including malls, offices and hotels, accounted for 69% of total company revenues.
The malls under the Commercial Centers Division grew by 4% in revenues from PhP3.102 B to PhP3.221 B despite the renovation works in several existing malls. This growth is due to a healthy occupancy rate of 93.5% and rental escalations. We have 18 malls in operation in Metro Manila and major cities across the country. Our gross floor area currently stands at 1.26 million square meters, an increase of approximately 60,000 square meters from the expansions of Robinsons Place Lipa, Batangas and Robinsons Place Dasmarinas, Cavite. Higher recovered energy and common area costs as well as more effective management of energy costs resulted in a significant increase in EBIT of 37% to PhP1.405 B.
The Office Buildings Division accounted for 7% of total RLC revenues and registered a significant 54% increase to PhP465.2 M due to higher rental reversions and additional office inventory. Our office property in the Galleria Corporate Center, Robinsons Equitable Tower, Robinsons Summit Center, and Robinsons Cybergate Tower 1 enjoyed almost 100% occupancy and are the top choices of BPOs and call centers due to their prime locations and technical design. Last year, we closed a 30,000-square meter deal with Accenture in Robinsons Cybergate Tower 2 prior to completion, which is considered the largest office building lease transaction by a single lessee in the Philippines to date. We are currently the biggest landlord of BPOs and call centers in the country with a total of about 120,000-square meters of office building space in our portfolio.
The Hotels Division’s gross revenues of PhP903 M grew 81% from PhP500 M, due to additional revenues from the recently opened Crowne Plaza Galleria Manila. Buoyed by the increased Philippine tourism activity, the Crowne Plaza together with the other hotel properties, Holiday Inn galleria Manila (formerly Manila Galleria Suites), Cebu Midtown Hotel, and Robinsons Apartelle, enjoyed respectable occupancy rates. As of the fiscal year ended September 2006, these hotels reported occupancy rates of 49%, 79%, 77% and 69%, respectively. The division also posted positive EBIT of PhP82 M, form a loss of PhP27 M last year due to Crowne Plaza’s pre-operating expenses.
Development Properties
RLC’s vertical and horizontal residential development properties accounted for 31% of total revenues.
The Residential Buildings Division recorded realized gross revenues of PhP1.565 B this fiscal year, a 104% increase from last year. The growth is due to higher revenues recognized from the progress completion of its projects – the Bloomfields Quezon City, One and Two Adriatico Place, Fifth Avenue Place, and One Gateway Place. Pre-selling activities in the division’s other projects, Gateway garden Ridge and Gateway Garden Heights, McKinley Par Residences, Three Adriatico Place, including the two projects launched in the fiscal year, East of Galleria and Otis 888 Residences, are brisk with 72% of the company’s total launched inventory already pre-sold. To date, the division has a total of about PhP9 B of unrealized sales and reservations to be realized mostly in the next 4 years, as construction of these projects progress. The robust office rentals and higher realized condominium revenues boosted the combined Office and Residential Buildings Divisions’ EBIT to PhP603 M for the fiscal year ended September 30, an increase of 194% over last year.
The Housing and Land Development Division’s realized revenues grew by 9% to PhP488 M. The impressive result was due to the strong uptake and higher level of completion of existing projects like Robinsons Vineyard, Hillsborough Pointe, Forest Parkhomes, San Lorenzo Homes, and Residenza Milano. The division’s newly launched residential projects, Bloomfields Tagaytay and Rosewood Parkhomes, have been well received by the market and is expected to contribute to realized gross revenues in the near future. Bloomfields Davao has been experiencing rapid sales take-up and was the highest single producer in FY2006. With such performance, we are inclined to open more projects in Davao. We have currently 15 ongoing projects and approximately PhP900 M in unrealized revenues and reservations to be realized in the next three years, as construction of these projects progress. The division’s EBIT rose to PhP196 M, a 25% improvement from last year.
Plans and Strategies for Year 2007
We are excited about the prospects of the Philippine Property industry. Your company is at the forefront of this bullish cycle, with a pipeline of projects to sustain the momentum of each of our four business units. Moreover, your management remains steadfast in our commitment to deliver growth, asset efficiency, and superior shareholder return. Our capital expenditure program calls for about PhP8 B earmarked in 2007, primarily to build office buildings, complete pre-sold condominium projects, construct and expand our chain of malls, and replenish our land bank.
We will continue to build new malls and expand our highly successful establishments under the Commercial Centers Division to maintain our position as one of the three largest mall operators in the country. For the calendar year 2007, we will complete three projects located in some of our mixed-use developments, inclulding the expansion of our highly successful mall in Ermita, Manila, new malls in Paco, Manila, and Tagaytay. As part of our mixed-use concept developments, we have allocated BPO space in five of our current malls and have planned to likewise house BPO operations in three of our future malls. We are continually expanding our land bank for future mall development by acquiring choice properties in Metro Manila and highly urbanized areas throughout the country.
For our Office Buildings Division, we will complete the construction of Robinsons Cybergate Center Tower 2, the second office building for call centers and BPOs in Pioneer, Mandaluyong. This building has already been pre-leased even prior to its completion. The combination of an expansion in our office space inventory as well as higher rental reversions is expected to boost the growth of the division’s rental revenues in the coming years. We have broken ground for Robinsons Cybergate Tower 3, which will be completed in FY2008 and add approximately 40,000 square meters in gross leasable area.
We expect our Hotels Division to sustain its improvement in terms of occupancy and profitability due to increased leisure and business travels to the Philippines. Looking to expand our coverage, we are in the planning stage to build 100-room boutique hotel in Tagaytay, a favorite weekend destination of Metro Manila residents.
We hope to sustain the pre-selling momentum of our condominium projects under our Residential Buildings Division by launching at least 3 projects for this fiscal year, including the two residential projects that we have already launched, The Fort Residences within Fort Bonifacio and the first phase of the Woodsville Viverde Mansions in Parañaque, We have successfully established distribution networks to tap the overseas Filipino investors in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. Recognizing the strength and depth of the OFW and Filipino migrant markets, we will continue to explore new markets around the globe.
We will maintain our focus of selling subdivision lots within the price range of PhP750,000 to PhP2 M under the Housing and Land Development Division. The market for selling lots with housing options remains robust, particularly in the various regions outside of Metro Manila. We will step up our efforts to acquire properties via joint ventures in the key cities where there is big potential for mid-market residential property sales. We will continue to aggressively tap the Overseas Filipino Workers market, especially in Europe and in the Middle East.
At the end of the fiscal year, the company re-launched its shares in an international equity offering. A total of 932.8 million shares were offered to both the local and international market, generating USD223 M in proceeds. Approximately half of the proceeds generated was an offering of primary shares which will be used by RLC to fund its capital expenditure programs for the coming year. The offering was concluded in October 2006, thus, this transaction will be reflected in the next year’s financial statements.
Acknowledgment
We would like to thank our Shareholders and our Board of Directors for your unwavering trust. In gratitude, we remain committed to maintain our stated policy of paying out 60% of our previous years’ income as cash dividends. We would like to thank our customers, suppliers, and business partners for your support in RLC. Finally, we would like to recognize the efforts of each member of RLC Team, whose dedication and hardwork allowed us to achieve our goals. The Philippine economy and real estate industry are full of challenges. Nevertheless, your management believes that we can face the future with confidence and surpass our previous achievements with all your support.
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