MANILA - SM Development Corp. (SMDC), the property arm of mall tycoon Henry Sy, reported that its first-half profits grew 100-fold to a record high, owing to robust residential sales.

From just P10.3 million in January to June last year, SMDC said its net income soared to P1 billion in the same months this year as total revenues went up 85% to P2.6 billion.

Real estate income for the period expanded by 104% to P775 million on the back of a 31% rise in realized revenues from real estate operations to P2.3 billion.

For the first 6 months, SMDC's pre-sold residential units grew 32% to 1,771 valued at P4.1 billion.

"We are very pleased with the performance of SMDC for the first 6 months. While we came from a low-income base last year due to our equity positions that were affected by the financial meltdown, the dramatic increase in net income was also achieved by exerting greater effort in sustaining the growth in residential real estate operations," said Roger Cabuñag, SMDC president.

"We expect a robust growth for the rest of the year as we are preparing to launch more projects," he added.

SMDC has 7 ongoing projects.

Chateau Elysee, a 6-cluster mid-rise condominium project in Parañaque City, is now on its fifth cluster, which is 58% complete. Berkeley Residences along Katipunan Road, across Miriam College, and Grass Residences beside SM City North EDSA are now 40% and 39% finished.

Newer projects like the first phases of Sea Residences near the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay City, and Field Residences in Sucat, Parañaque are now 9% and 45% complete.

Meanwhile, both Lindenwood Residences, a residential subdivision in Muntinlupa City, and Mezza Residences, across SM City Sta. Mesa are near 100% completion.

SMDC is set to launch 6 other projects within the second half of this year. These include Princeton Residences, near the Gilmore LRT-2 Station along Aurora Boulevard in Quezon City; Sun Residences at Welcome Rotonda in Quezon City; Mars Residences along Jupiter Street in Makati City; Jazz Residences in Mandaluyong City; Tree Residences along Felix Avenue in Cainta, Rizal; and Wind Residences in Tagaytay City.