Property giant Ayala Land, Inc. (ALI) reported a 24 percent drop in net income for the first nine months of the year to P1.26 billion from P3.33 billion in the same period last year mainly due to one time gains of P1.51 billion in 2008.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, ALI said though that both earnings and revenues are recovering and have been improving quarter-to-quarter this year.

“We maintained an upward trend in terms of revenues and earnings in the third quarter of this year, largely driven by improved margins and effective cost discipline,” said ALI chief finance officer Jaime E. Ysmael.

He noted that “we have put in place a four-pillar strategy involving growth, margin improvement, capital efficiency, and organizational development, to further strengthen our market position and deliver on investor expectations in the coming years.”

The continued improvement in the third quarter brought consolidated year-to-date revenues to P22.56 billion for the first nine months of 2009, just 6 percent lower than the P24.0 billion recorded in the same period last year.

This was mostly due to the uncertain market conditions experienced back in the first quarter of 2009, a slight year-to-date drop in Real Estate and Hotel operation revenues, and the absence this year of capital gains from a large transaction, such as the sale of shares in three subsidiaries last year.

Meanwhile, the growth in third quarter earnings helped ALI post a nine-month 2009 core net income of P2.9 billion, just 8 percent lower than the P3.2 billion in core earnings recorded in the same period last year.

Residential Development revenues amounted to P10.5 billion in the first nine months of 2009, lower by just 2 percent compared with the P10.8 billion posted in the same period last year.

The Company’s middle-income brand, Alveo, posted a substantial growth in revenues while the affordable segment brand, Avida, performed steadily.

Ayala Land Premier revenues, however, declined as the recovery in demand in the second and third quarters was not able to fully offset the significant drop in the first quarter.