Megaworld Q1 net profit jumps 16%

Tycoon Andrew Tan-led Megaworld Corp. grew attributable net profit by 16 percent year-on-year to P3.8 billion, driven by a double-digit expansion in earnings from residential development, commercial property rental and hotel operations.

Excluding a nonrecurring gain of about P189 million in the first three months, Megaworld posted a 13-percent year-on-year growth in net income.

Consolidated revenues rose by 15 percent year-on-year to P14.9 billion during the first quarter, around 64 percent of which came from the residential business, while 26 percent was contributed by its rental portfolio and 4 percent by its hotel businesses. The remainder came from noncore revenues.

Including earnings attributable to minority interest, Megaworld’s first-quarter net profit rose by 18 percent year-on-year to P4.1 billion.

“It is always encouraging to see all of our core businesses exhibiting positive growth during the first quarter as this sets our pace for the rest of the year. We will be working toward maintaining the growth momentum until year-end. We are confident that stronger numbers will be achievable given our pipeline of projects this year,” Kevin Tan, Megaworld chief strategy officer, disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday.

First-quarter revenues from residential sales grew by 11 percent to P9.5 billion. As an indicator of future revenue growth, the company also generated around P48 billion in new reservation sales and brought about P24 billion worth of fresh inventory to the property market in the first quarter.

Megaworld’s rental business gained 16 percent year-on-year to P3.9 billion during the first quarter. The company is scheduled to complete more than 230,000 square meters of leasable space from its office and shopping mall developments in various townships all over the country this year.

The company’s hotel business, the fastest-growing segment, grew revenues by 56 percent year-on-year to P574 million.

“We have launched two new hotels last year—the Savoy Hotel Manila in Newport City and the Twin Lakes Hotel near Tagaytay. This year, we expect to add over 1,000 rooms as we open Belmont Hotel Boracay, Hotel Lucky Chinatown and Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown,” Tan said.

Now on its 30th year, Megaworld has 24 masterplanned townships and integrated lifestyle communities across the country.