FILINVEST REIT Corp. (FILREIT) said the number of its Philippine Offshore Gaming Operator (POGO) tenants declined in the first semester, after the pre-termination of their leases.
The company said its overall occupancy rate by the end of the first semester stood at 89%, with POGO tenants now making up 1.5% from 2.8% previously.
“The company anticipated and forecasted the decline due to the further reduction of its remaining POGO tenants,” FILREIT said in a statement.
FILREIT said it ended the period with business process outsourcing (BPO) firms making up for 90% of its tenants, describing the sector as resilient. It added that regional operating headquarters will also form part of its tenant base to replace POGO firms.
“New multinational BPO tenants and ROHQ (regional operating headquarters) are taking up the vacated spaces, albeit with delays due to ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) restrictions,” the company said.
FILREIT manages a portfolio of 17 office buildings with over 300,000 square meters. Sixteen of these buildings are located in Northgate Cyberzone, Filinvest Corporate City in Muntinlupa.
FILREIT’s net income for the second quarter declined by 12% to P411.18 million from last year’s P467.92 million.
Its topline dropped by nine percent to P949.17 million in the second quarter from P1.04 billion a year ago. Rental revenue income amounted to P688.08 million, sliding eight percent from P746.61 million a year ago.
However, its net income for the six-month period grew by eight percent to P1.05 billion, driven by lower provisioning for taxes as some projects were transferred to parent firm Filinvest Land, Inc.
“We are pleased with the results of our first-half performance considering the general economic climate,” Lourdes Josephine Gotianun-Yap, chairperson of FILREIT, said in a statement.
Revenues for the period declined by 13% to P1.96 billion in the first half. FILREIT’s rental revenue reached P1.4 billion, sliding 8.4% year on year. — Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte