Century Properties Group Inc. (CPG) said its income last year fell 22 percent to P1.15 billion from the previous year’s P1.47 billion, due to the impact of mobility restrictions on its operations.
Revenues for 2020 declined 24 percent to P10.84 billion from the previous year’s P14.31 billion. Its horizontal affordable housing and office leasing businesses cushioned the fall in its earnings, the company said.
Ponciano S. Carreon Jr., the company’s CFO, said the decline in the company’s revenues and net income are within expected levels and that the company has prepared for the significant impact of quarantine restrictions, which drastically reduced sales, collections and slowed down construction activities.
“Notwithstanding a challenging 2020 for most industries, CPG generated reasonable profits as a result of its diversification strategies in the prior years, demonstrating the industry experience and track record of the company and its management team. The high-margin segments of affordable housing and office leasing proved to be resilient throughout the year and contributed 93 percent to the net income compared to 43 percent last year,” Carreon said.
Affordable housing contributed 35 percent or P98 million to the net income compared to 24 percent in 2019, while leasing contributed 58 percent or P665 million compared to 19 percent.
The company’s in-city vertical developments and property management businesses posted marginal contributions, as last year’s quarantine measures hampered construction and streamlined property management operations.
CPG said it will continue pursuing a balanced mix of revenue sources to ensure diversified revenue streams. Through the brand Phirst Park Homes with its joint-venture partner Mitsubishi Corp., the company said it will launch new house and lot communities in the high-growth locations of Cavite, Bulacan and Quezon in the second half of 2021.
The company said it was able to bring down its interest-bearing debt and decreased borrowing costs further by 130 basis points for 2020.
The operating efficiencies it instituted allowed the company to reduce the overall operating expenses by P311 million or about 9 percent year-on-year despite the additional expenses booked in the fourth quarter to cushion the expected softening of the market.
Financial ratios remained at healthy levels, with debt to equity improving to 0.9 times from 1.1 times as a result of positive operating cash flows, and repayment of short- and long-term debt and bonds payables.
CPG said it is also preparing for a vaccination program for its employees and their qualified dependents this second quarter. CPG was one of the 30 private-sector companies to participate in the first wave of tripartite agreements with the government to procure 2.6 million doses AstraZeneca vaccines for priority sectors including economic frontliners.