Property giant Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) saw profits in the first semester of 2022 jump 34 percent to P8.1 billion, propelled by the recovery of malls and hotels apart from a surge in demand for commercial lots.

Residential sales during the period, however, remained a drag as the builder provided payment leeway for struggling buyers during the pandemic.

Total revenues in the first half reached P53.5 billion, up 9 percent.

Ayala Land said the sale of commercial lots soared 166 percent to P5.3 billion amid the strong take-up in its projects Arca South, Nuvali and Vermosa.

This offset the 28-percent drop in office-for-sale units and the 9-percent decline in residential revenues to P27.4 billion. Ayala said lower residential sales were due to "stretched payment terms arising from the challenges of the pandemic." Residential reservation sales, an indicator of future revenues, added 2 percent to P49.3 billion.

"Strong mall and hotel recovery, resilient office leasing operations and solid demand for commercial lots led our performance in the first half of 2022," Ayala Land president and CEO Bernard Vincent Dy said in a statement.

He downplayed the drop in residential sales, comparing this to the market's resilience during the financial crises of 1997 and 2008.

"We are seeing property values holding up. That is a sign of a very robust situation in this particular segment," he said during a separate briefing on Friday.

The builder's commercial leasing business saw a 54-percent recovery due to relaxed pandemic movement restrictions. Ayala Land's shopping mall revenues doubled to P6.9 billion as rent and tenant sales increased while office rentals rose 12 percent to P5.4 billion, mainly on the contribution of newly opened projects. Hotels and resorts also outperformed with a 91-percent jump in sales to P2.3 billion "from increased guest patronage and higher room rates due to the resurgence of domestic tourism."

"We look forward to sustaining our recovery for the rest of the year, anchored on the country's stable fundamentals and new socioeconomic agenda," Dy said.

For the second quarter alone, Ayala Land said net income hit P4.9 billion, up 51 percent, as revenues rose 18 percent to P28.7 billion.

The developer said it deployed P30.2 billion in capital expenditures for the first semester, more than half going toward residential projects.

During the period, it launched 12 projects worth P34.9 billion, five of which were rolled out during the second quarter of 2022. INQ