Filinvest REIT Corp. (Filreit), the real estate investment trust (REIT) of the Filinvest Group, said its income fell 20 percent to P304.13 million in the first quarter from the previous year’s P382.35 million on lower revenues.
Revenues fell more than 2 percent to P800.97 million from the previous year’s P823.42 million.
The company said its acquisition of the 2.9 hectares of prime resort property that is being leased to Crimson Resort and Spa Boracay began contributing to Filreit’s income starting January 1.
“The infusion of the Boracay property is only a first step towards a more diversified portfolio for Filreit. While it has now broadened Filreit’s income profile mix beyond office leasing and into the growing Philippine hospitality and leisure segment, we remain focused on further growing Filreit’s portfolio organically and with regular asset infusions,” company president and CEO Maricel Brion-Lirio said.
“We are guided by a clear investment strategy of increasing occupancy, cost management and asset acquisition to sustain the portfolio expansion and deliver stable and competitive return to our investors.”
Together with its fund management company, the firm said it is in the process of completing the due diligence and internal approvals of new asset infusions.
It did not identify the properties.
Filreit said its average occupancy rate in the first quarter stood at 85 percent. Occupancy has been able to hold up compared to the estimated office industry’s average occupancy rate of 81 percent based on Colliers’ first quarter property market report.
The company said it continues to finalize new leases and renew expiring contracts. As of the end of the first quarter, almost 10,300 square meters of new leases have signed letters of intent and contracts of lease.
On renewals, almost 17,200 square meters or 42 percent of the lease expiries for 2023 have already been renewed, with another 11,000 square meters or 27 percent awaiting finalization of the renewal contracts.
The balance is due for renewal throughout the remainder of the year.
The company said it is focused on sustainability and the utilization of eco-efficient assets. Two buildings in Filreit’s portfolio are LEED Gold-certified while two other buildings passed the criteria for Level 1 certification on EDGE (Excellence in Design for Greater Efficiencies) developed by the International Finance Corp.
“These green building certifications confirm FILRT’s commitment to sustainability, particularly on energy, water and resource efficiency. As a sustainability-themed REIT founded on strong ESG [environment, social and governance] principles, Filreit looks forward to growing a resilient and robust real estate investment portfolio,” the company said.