EEI Corporation, the construction arm of the Yuchengco group of companies, reported that net income grew by 10 percent in the first quarter of 2010 to P172.23 million from P157.10 million in the same period last year mainly due to lower provisioning for income tax.

In a disclosure, the firm said production from domestic construction contracts increased by 31 percent from P855.44 million in the first quarter of 2009 to P1.12 billion for the same period this year.

“This could be indicative of the recovery of the domestic construction activity from the slowdown attributed to the global recession that prevailed in 2009,” EEI said.

However, revenue from services decreased by 59 percent, from P685.84 million in the first quarter of 2009 to P279.78 million for the same quarter in 2010; and real estate sales decreased 26 percent, from P19.95 million to P14.76 million.

Revenue by virtue of EEI’s share in the income of its overseas associate and joint venture, interest income and other income also registered declines for the period in review compared to previous year’s performance.

Thus, EEI’s consolidated revenues of P1.64 billion registered in the first three months of 2010 are 13 percent lower than the P1.88 billion posted in the same period in previous year.

Total domestic consolidated orders for the first quarter of 2010 amounted to P221.39 million where EEI’s local subsidiaries contributed P131.54 million. This is significantly lower than the orders acquired for the same period last year totaling P873.76 million.

EEI’s total domestic backlog as of end of March 2010 had a net selling price of P5.33 billion, including the backlog of subsidiaries worth P371.91 million.

The backlog provided by the Company’s overseas joint venture company, Al Rushaid Construction Company (ARCC), as of the end of the first quarter of 2010 amounts to P14.77 billion.