MANILA - Listed upscale property developer Anchor Land Holdings Inc. on Thursday declared a cash dividend worth at least P47 million, which is equivalent to 20 percent of its net profit for the year 2008.
 
In a statement, the company said its board has approved a cash dividend of P0.13 per share, 160 percent higher than the previous year's P0.05 per share.
 
All stockholders of record as of July 8, 2009 are entitled to the dividend, which is payable on August 3.
 
"We committed to declare a cash dividend equivalent to 20 percent of our net income, and we are more than happy to honor this commitment," said Anchor Land vice chairman Steve Li.
 
The company earlier disclosed that its 2008 revenues grew almost threefold to P1.3 billion from P487 million in 2007 despite the global financial turmoil that has seen many developers scale down real estate projects. Its net income more than doubled to P236 million from the year ago level of P103 million.
 
The group’s consolidated total assets also grew 34 percent from P2.01 billion in 2007 to P2.72 in 2008, enabling Anchor Land to further strengthen its core activities in the years to come.
 
For the first quarter of 2009, Anchor Land reported a net income of P82.94 million, up 83 percent from the P45.24 million recorded during the same period last year.
 
The company, which has established a niche market in the ethnic Chinese community, posted gross revenues of P454.62 million from January to March this year, higher by P217 million compared to last year’s P237.61 million.
 
Last week, Anchor Land announced its acquisition of the historic Admiral Hotel along Roxas Boulevard from the Lopez-Araneta family as part of its planned P4-billion investment in the Manila Bay area.
 
It said the purchase would strengthen its position in the high-end residential condominium market.