Ayala Land enters socialized housing market

Property giant Ayala Land Inc., known for its high-end projects, has created a fifth residential brand for its socialized housing developments. In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, Ayala Land said the socialized housing projects will be pursued under its new brand - the South Maya Ventures Corp., a separate organization from its other existing subsidiaries such as the Alveo Land Corp., Avida Land Corp., and Amaia Land Corp. "SMVC will offer mainly house and lot packages with prices not to exceed P400,000 per unit and is planning to launch its first project in Gen. Trias, Cavite within the last quarter of the year on a 10-hectare lot currently owned by the company," Ayala Land said. In the year’s first half, Ayala Land reported that its earnings climbed 35 percent to P3.38 billion as consolidated revenue rose 15 percent to P21.25 billion. "Revenues from real estate and hotels, which comprised bulk of consolidated revenues, increased by 15 percent to P19.99 billion with growth largely driven by the strong performance of the property development and commercial leasing business," the developer said. Meanwhile, expenses for the first half jumped 10 percent to P16.22 billion. Cost of sales from real estate and hotel accounted for the bulk of expenses, rising 9 percent to P13.33 billion. For the year's first semester, Ayala Land spent a total of P12.48 billion for project and capital expenditures, 67-percent higher than the P7.47 billion spent during the same period in 2010, the company said. --CMA/OMG, GMA News