Megaworld nets P2.9B

Andrew Tan. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

Tycoon Andrew Tan-led property developer Megaworld Corp. chalked up a first quarter net profit of P2.9 billion, rising by 11 percent year-on-year on record rental earnings from its office and shopping mall portfolio.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Thursday, Megaworld added that residential revenues – mostly from its inventory of condominiums and villages across the country – remained “steady” and continued to contribute around 70 percent of the company’s total revenues.

Revenues across the group, which includes subsidiary brands GlobalEstate Resorts, Inc. (GERI), Empire East Land Holdings Inc. and Suntrust Properties Inc., amounted to P12 billion for the first three months, up by 5 percent from the same period last year.

Rental income, on the other hand, rose by 26 percent to a record P2.9 billion during the first quarter. The company’s recurring income, which comes from office and commercial/mall rentals, contributes around 24 percent of the total quarterly revenues.

Hotel revenues also grew by 23 percent during the first quarter to P335-million as the company expanded its homegrown hotel brands, Richmonde and Belmont, in Iloilo City and Pasay City, respectively.

“Our long-term goal is to strengthen our recurring income base while we maintain our leadership in residential developments. We already have a solid landbanking in place. All we have to do is to maximize the use of these lands to further expand our presence especially in key growth areas in the provinces,” Megaworld senior vice president and treasurer Francis Canuto said in a press statement on Thursday.

This year, the Megaworld Group is set to launch 20 residential projects in Uptown Bonifacio, McKinley West and McKinley Hill, all in Fort Bonifacio; Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City; The Capital Town in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga; Maple Grove in General Trias, Cavite; Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal; Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island; Sta. Barbara Heights in Iloilo; and Twin Lakes near Tagaytay, covering a total sales value of around P31.2-billion.

“We are also very keen about prospects for tourism. This is a big opportunity for us. We hope to support the government’s tourism programs by building more tourism-related developments such as hotels,” Canuto added.

Last month, the company also opened its first Savoy Hotel, another homegrown brand, in Boracay Newcoast. To date, Megaworld-owned hotel brands Richmonde (Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel and Richmonde Hotel Iloilo), Belmont (Belmont Hotel Manila) and Savoy (Savoy Hotel Boracay Newcoast) have a total of around 1,500 rooms.

“We now have 22 large-scale townships and communities all over the Philippines so there is definitely a lot of work to be done. Nonetheless, we are excited because most of these are actually outside of Metro Manila. This fits perfectly with the government’s planned infrastructure renaissance,” said Canuto.