D.M. Wenceslao and Associates Inc. (DMW) reported a 31.5 percent drop in net income for the first half of 2023 to P913 million from the P1.33 billion earned in the same period last year.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said it saw a substantial increase in residential earnings and stable rental earnings growth during the period under review.

It noted that in the first half of 2022, DMW records a 1,790 square meter land sale while no land was sold in the first semester this year.

“While land sales are not part of the Company’s long-term revenue mix, DMW sells non-core parcels of land strategically. Currently, DMW only has  about 4,200sqms of land available for sale,” the firm said.

Excluding the land sale, DMW’s first half 2023 net income of P913 million reflects a 24 percent year-on-year growth from its first half 2022 ex-land sale net income of P734 million.

Residential revenues jumped 51 percent to P704 million on the back of incremental units qualified for revenue recognition, continued construction progress, and additional sales take up.

The company’s rental revenues consisting of rentals from land, building, and other revenues including CUSA and parking fees improved six percent to P1.2 billion, accounting for 58 percentof total revenues.

The growth in rental revenues was primarily driven by new land and building leases.

“In spite of prevailing challenges in the Philippine property landscape, promising opportunities are steadily emerging,” said DMW Chief Executive Officer Delfin Angelo Wenceslao. 

He added that, “notably, office space requirements across traditional and emerging industries ramped up significantly, boosting our office leasing activities. Furthermore, investor-driven demand buoyed MidPark sales as residential investors anticipate major developments and infrastructure in Aseana City.”

“In the mall segment, we expect the surging foot-traffic to be a strong tailwind for our soon-to-open flagship project Parqal,” Wenceslao said.