Filinvest Land, Inc. (FLI) announced that it will launch new and expansion projects worth P8.6 billion this year even as it reported that its net income for 2009 rose 8 percent to P2.02 billion from the P1.87 billion registered in 2008.

In a disclosure, the firm said total revenues, excluding equity in net earnings, amounted to P5.64 billion, 8 percent more than the previous year’s P5.23 billion.

The bulk of revenues were from Real Estate Sales, which amounted to P3.68 billion, 5 percent higher than 2008’s P3.51 billion. Rental Income, generated from Festival Supermall, PBCom Tower and Northgate Cyberzone in Alabang, on the other hand, contributed P1.19 billion to total revenues, representing a 5 percent growth over 2008’s P1.14 billion.

For 2010, FLI plans to launch 13 new projects and 23 additional phases with an estimated sales value of P8.6 billion across all market segments.

This includes four new socialized housing projects in Cavite, Batangas and Bulacan, as well as two new affordable housing projects, also in Batangas and Cavite.

As of year-end 2009, FLI had a sizable land bank of 2,433 hectares which will enable the Company to continue to launch new projects to meet future market demand.

Despite the downturn in the economy and the effects of September’s Typhoon Ondoy in 2009, FLI was one of the few developers that was able to sustain growth in its sales.

Total residential sales reservations generated in 2009 reached P7.0 billion, 6 percent more than the P6.6 billion generated in 2008.

Demand for FLI’s core business of residential mass housing, composed of socialized, affordable and middle-income markets, remained steady, and contributed over 90% of total sales.

Buyers’ interest in FLI’s newest product line, the medium-rise buildings (MRBs), remained strong. MRB projects are inner city projects with five- storey buildings clustered around the project’s central amenity area.