RLC businesses to return to normal by year end

Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) is hoping for a full recovery by the end of this year and post a better than pre-pandemic performance barring any more lockdowns due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Our mall business is continuing to pick up, the hotel business is continuing to pick up, our office revenues are also growing, our industrial facilities revenues are also growing. So, yes, our investment portfolio will continue to lead our revenue growth,” said RLC President Frederick D. Go in an interview.

He also noted that, with regards to rental rates, “the market, in general, is already back with normalized rates” while hotel bookings are expected to normalize soon, maybe by the end of the year.

For the firm’s mall business, Go said foot traffic as well as revenues from customers are also almost back to normal or about 85 to 90 percent of pre-pandemic levels.

*RCR Chairman and RLC President Frederick D. Go*

“Strictly speaking, we are almost there but not there yet. But we’re headed there as far as we are concerned. Mall sales are almost there and it’s practically there. By the end of the year, I think we can just say we’re past the pandemic already,” he added.

However, even with the recovery of its mall business, Go said they are not yet inclined to either inject mall assets into RL Commercial REIT Inc. (RCR) or set up a separate real estate investment trust for RLC’s mall business.

“Malls are definitely a reasonable asset (for REIT) but we have not given it thought yet. The right timing for putting malls into a REIT is still probably two years away. I don’t think now is the time to think about it,” he explained.

Go noted though that, their intention is still to continue infusing office assets into RCR every year “so there will be another asset scheduled for infusion next year but we haven’t decided which one yet.” RLC posted a 42 percent growth in consolidated net income to P3.63 billion in the second quarter of the year 2022, double that of the first quarter of 2022.

This pushed profits to end at P5.36 billion in the first half of the year, surpassing pre-pandemic numbers by 34 percent.

“The strong quarterly earnings beat was driven by the accelerating recovery of RLC’s investment portfolio, and amplified by revenues from Phase 2 of its Chengdu Ban Bian Jie project in China,” the firm said.

Led by its mall and office businesses, the investment portfolio, revenues grew 29 percent to P10.35 billon in the first six months of the year.

With the continued nationwide easing of quarantine restrictions, RLC said it is poised for robust recovery as economic activity rebounds and overall consumer sentiment improves.

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The article was originally published in Manila Bulletin and written by James A. Loyola.