Property giant Megaworld Corp. said profits from January to September this year rose 12.5 percent on the back of gains posted by its sales and leasing divisions.
Megaworld, owned by tycoon Andrew Tan’s Alliance Global Group Inc., said in a stock exchange filing Thursday net income during the period hit P8.35 billion compared to P7.42 billion last year. That comparison, Megaworld said, was net of an P11.62 billion non-recurring gain.
Moreover, it said consolidated revenues grew 10.85 percent to P33.5 billion during the period.
“While we have been successful in our aggressive expansion of our townships across the country, it is time to further build on our recurring income portfolio,” Megaworld chief finance officer Francis Canuto said in the filing.
“We are currently building more office towers and more malls and commercial spaces in all of our townships. We are certain in reaching our rental income target of P9 billion this year,” he said.
The company’s rental arm was the fastest growing business segment during the first nine months of 2015, soaring to a record year-on-year record growth of 24 percent.
The company’s rental income as of the first nine months of the year jumped to P6.44 billion from P5.20 billion in the same period last year.
Megaworld’s residential sales likewise continued its growth during the period in review. Real estate sales grew 11.5 percent to P20.49 billion.
Completing its target of five townships to be launched this year, Megaworld recently launched Westside City. This is its 20th township so far.
The 31-hectare Westside City, which is located at the Entertainment City in Parañaque City near Manila Bay, is envisioned as the “Broadway of Asia” that will become the home of the first-ever Grand Opera House in the country.
It will also be the second leisure and entertainment township of Megaworld after Newport City.
The company also launched four other townships during the first nine months of the year: Northill Gateway (53 hectares) and The Upper East (34 hectares) in Negros Occidental; Sta. Barbara Heights (170 hectares) in Iloilo; and a 35.6-hectare vast property beside the Pampanga Provincial Capitol in the City of San Fernando.
The company is best known for building the 18-hectare Eastwood City in 1999, the first integrated urban township in the Philippines. Miguel R. Camus