AREIT, Inc. posted a 55% growth in net income to P3.4 billion in 2022 as stable operations brought higher revenues for the Ayala-led real estate investment trust (REIT), it said in a disclosure to the stock market on Monday.
The company said the profit figure, which placed the comparative year-ago number at around P2.19 billion, excluded the P549-million decrease in investment properties’ net fair value.
Including the change in value, the company’s full-year net income was at P2.9 billion “on account of the higher interest rate environment.”
The company’s topline last year increased by 53% to P5.1 billion, while its earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) went up by 52% to P3.6 billion. It attributed the “stable operations” mainly to the 98% rise in occupancy and its “strong” collection performance.
AREIT ended the year with a gross leasable area (GLA) of 673,000 square meters (sq.m.) from 549,000 sq.m., and assets under management (AUM) worth P64 billion from P53 billion in 2021.
The company is further targeting to grow its AUM by P10 billion to P15 billion and aims to expand its asset portfolio by about 100,000 sq.m. of GLA from 2023 to 2025.
“The company maintains its thrust to grow and diversify its asset portfolio by sector, location, and income contribution and achieve a total shareholder return range of 10-12%,” AREIT said.
In 2022, the company put in place a property-for-share swap with principal Ayala Land, Inc. in exchange for eBloc Towers 1 to 4 at Cebu IT Park, ACC Tower and Tech Tower at Ayala Center Cebu.
“With the recently concluded acquisition, AREIT outperformed its target to reach P60 billion in AUM by 2022,” the company said.
At the stock market on Monday, shares in AREIT dropped by P0.50 or 0.14% to P35.75 apiece. — Adrian H. Halili
