By James A. Loyola
Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) recorded a 41 percent fall in consolidated net income to P4.3 billion in the first quarter of the year as consolidated revenues dropped 28 percent to P28.4 billion.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said this reflects the impact of the COVID-19 Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) and the Taal Volcano eruption.
Revenues from property development contracted by 38 percent to P17.2 billion, mainly due to lower project bookings and the impact of the Taal volcano eruption in January this year on the sales of its projects in Southern Luzon.
This was aggravated further by lower incremental completion as construction activities were interrupted by the ECQ.
“The severe impact of the ECQ resulting from the COVID-19 crisis and the Taal eruption caused a major decline in our net income,” said ALI President and CEO Bernard Vincent O. Dy.
He noted that, “Our development business was particularly hit hard during the quarter as we saw buyers opting to defer purchases during this period. Our leasing assets were also significantly affected in the latter part of the quarter due to the ECQ.”
Residential revenues declined 39 percent to P13.8 billion while office for sale revenues dropped by 68 percent to P962 million. The earthquakes in Davao in the fourth quarter of 2019 also affected the sales of its projects in the province.
Nevertheless, revenues from the sale of commercial and industrial lots grew by 8 percent to P2.5 billion mainly from existing developments such as Arca South, Seagrove, and Laguna Technopark. Sales reservations registered at P24.7 billion, 27 percent lower, during the period.
Commercial leasing revenues reached P8.7 billion, a slight 5 percent dip as sustained office leasing mitigated limited mall operations and the closure of resorts during the ECQ.
Shopping center revenues dropped 9 percent to P4.6 billion while revenues from hotels and resorts ended 17 percent lower to P1.6 billion. Office leasing revenues meanwhile increased by 15 percent to P2.5 billion through the sustained operations of BPO and HQ buildings.
ALI waived about P2.6 billion worth of rent from tenants in its 32 shopping malls nationwide during the ECQ of Luzon and other key cities. It has also earmarked P600 million to assist no-work-no-pay workers in its eco-system.