Megaworld posts 14% profit growth

Megaworld Corp., the property giant known for its integrated urban township projects, reported a 14-percent year-on-year increase in its nine-month net income to P12.8 billion.

It said revenue was up 17 percent to P48.1 billion as its major business segments gained.

“Megaworld’s consistent growth across all business segments is a clear indicator of where the company is going, and we are very optimistic to finish the year strong,” Megaworld chief strategy officer Kevin Tan said in the statement.

“Megaworld will always be market-driven, and as long as we see this type of demand on the ground, then we will continue to launch projects aggressively,” he added.

During the nine-month period, Megaworld said real estate sales went up 11 percent to P30.7 billion while rental income grew 19 percent to P12.4 billion.

Leasing revenues were recorded from office buildings and shopping malls, which were typically clustered with the group’s residential projects. Megaworld calls these township developments and it has 25 such projects to date.

During the nine-month period, Megaworld said it launched a total of P58.7 billion in new residential inventory while reservation sales, an indicator of future revenues, reached P114 billion.

The company is also bullish on demand for office spaces, where it is a market leader. It plans to finish another 192,000 square meters of office spaces this year.

By the end of 2020, the company will breach the two-million square meter mark in its office space portfolio.

“Our rental business remains to be a key driver to our consistent growth, and we see this to become stronger in the coming years as we roll out more office and retail spaces in our townships across the country,” Tan said.

Megaworld’s hotel business, which spans some 3,500 rooms, saw revenues jump 82 percent to P1.9 billion during the nine-month period.

“In the long term, we see our hotel operations to be a major contributor to our growth as we continue to accelerate our hotel developments,” Tan said.—MIGUEL R. CAMUS

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