Megaworld net profit nearly triples

MANILA, Philippines - Megaworld Corp., the flagship property unit of tycoon Andrew L. Tan, said its nine-month profit ballooned nearly three times from last year on the back of strong residential sales in its various townships as well as higher leasing income from its office and retail portfolio.

The real estate giant said its net income in the first nine months of the year skyrocketed to P19.03 billion from P6.52 billion during the same period last year.

Megaworld said the amount is inclusive of the P11.62-billion non-recurring gain from the acquisition and sale of a subsidiary and associate.

Total revenues including that of subsidiaries Global-Estate Resorts Inc. (GERI),

Empire East Land Holdings and Suntrust Properties, stood at P41.86 billion, up 57 percent from P26.68 billion last year.

“We are confident that Megaworld can achieve another record year for 2014 as we further expand our township developments all over the country,” said Tan, chairman and chief executive officer of Megaworld.

Megaworld said rental income from its office developments and lifestyle malls surged to a record P5.2 billion in the first three quarters of 2014, 20 percent more than last year’s P4.34 billion.

Reservation sales of the company and all its subsidiaries in the first nine months likewise saw an 11 percent increase year-on-year to P70.2 billion.

The consolidation of Tan’s real estate companies under Megaworld was completed in June with acquisition of a 49.2 percent stake in GERI by Alliance Global Group Inc., Tan’s holding company.

The acquisition has brought Megaworld’s majority stake in GERI up to 80.4 percent and increases the developer’s total landbank to around 4,000 hectares.

During the first nine months of 2014, the entire Megaworld group has already launched a total of 19 residential projects.

In terms of office developments, meanwhile, Megaworld said it is set to further solidify its position as the leader in office developments in terms of total office space inventory by completing another 112,000 square meters of office space this year.

“By the end of 2014, with the completion of new state-of-the-art office towers in Uptown Bonifacio, The Mactan Newtown, and Iloilo Business Park, the company will have around 712,000 square meters of office space in its portfolio,” the property firm said.

On the retail side, Megaworld said it is also set to complete additional commercial and retail space at the Venice Grand Canal Mall in McKinley Hill, as well as several commercial strips at The Mactan Newtown.

Megaworld currently has 304,083 square meters of commercial and retail space in its portfolio.