Philippines real estate investor Belle Corporation saw its net income grow 10% in the three months to 31 March 2018, buoyed by the continued strong performance of City of Dreams Manila. Belle Corp’s 78.7%-owned subsidiary Premium Leisure Corporation (PLC) has an income sharing agreement with City of Dreams Manila operator Melco Resorts (Philippines).
In a filing with the Philippines Stock Exchange, Belle Corp announced net income of Php857 million (US$16.3 million) in 1Q18, with its income share in operations at City of Dreams Manila up 8% year-on-year to Php474 million.
The company also realized increased operating income from its real estate businesses, up 27% from Php451 million in 1Q17 to Php571 million.
“A significant portion of this real estate related EBITDA (Php502 million) was derived from Belle’s lease of the land and buildings comprising City of Dreams Manila to Melco, with the balance coming from sales of real estate products and property management activities at its Tagaytay Highlands and Midlands residential and leisure complexes south of Metro Manila,” Belle Corp said.
The company added that it had made a regular cash dividend payment to its common shareholders on 23 March 2018 of Php0.12 per share for a total consideration of Php1.27 billion – a 26% increase on the Php0.095 per share it paid 12 months earlier.