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EMPIRE
East Land Holdings Inc. is setting aside P6 billion to
P8 billion in the next five years to fund three projects
located near mass transit stations in Metro Manila.
At the
sidelines of its annual stockholders’ meeting Tuesday,
president Anthony Charlemagne Yu told reporters the
allotted amount for capital expenditure will be financed
by internal cash.
“We have
a very strong cash position, and most of the capital
expenditure to start construction will come from
internally-generated funds,” Yu said.
Empire
East, controlled by property tycoon Andrew Tan, is
building San Lorenzo Place in Makati, which will have
four towers with one- to three-bedroom units each. The
project is directly linked to the MRT-3 Magallanes
station and located right beside San Lorenzo Village.
Another
project, called Pioneer Woodlands in Mandaluyong City,
will involve the construction of nine residential towers
offering studio to two-bedroom units.
Little
Baguio Terraces, on the other hand, will have six
buildings set within walking distance from LRT-2’s J.
Ruiz and Gilmore stations.
The
company will begin construction of Pioneer Woodlands and
Little Baguio Terraces late this year, while
San Lorenzo Place
will break ground in 2009.
Apart
from these projects, Empire East is also planning an
upscale residential development in Sta. Rosa, Laguna,
where existing developments—Laguna BelAir 1-3—are
located.
Yu said
this is a testament of how bullish the company is in the
country’s real-estate sector.
“Empire
East has been spared from any spillover effects of the
subprime mortgage in the US. With the sheer magnitude of
demand for housing in the Philippines, we concentrated
more on local customers and less on overseas buyers,” Yu
said.
He
admitted, though, that with rising constructions costs,
the company has to raise prices.
“We
always have a price increase after every tower. The
price increase depends on the project. It could start at
P100,000 up,” he said.
Empire
East’s outlook in the market segment they are in remains
positive.
“The
kind of amortization payment that we have is very
affordable for local and people buying from abroad. And
we believe that we can stay within that range. And even
if we raise the price, it is spread over 10 to 12 years
so I think it will not impact very much. Our units, for
instance, range from P1.8 million to P3 million. It
becomes affordable because we stretch the payment to 10
to 12 years,” Yu said.
The
listed company is currently in discussions with various
groups for the acquisition and joint venture in lots
situated within the Calabarzon area.
In the
first quarter, the company’s consolidated revenues fell
slightly to P463.7 million due to lower real-estate
sales. Sales generated were from various projects,
namely,
California Gardens Square,
Xavier Hills, Greenhills Garden Square, The Cambridge
Village and Laguna Bel-Air 3 and 4.
Net
income grew by 5 percent to P58.5 million from P55
million a year ago.
Empire
East and its subsidiaries are engaged in the development
and marketing of affordable housing projects either in
the form of condominium communities or house and lot
packages and also leases out commercial and industrial
properties.
Its
thrust is the development of housing townships,
residential subdivisions and other massive horizontal
land development, alone or through joint ventures with
others. |
