Megaworld hikes profit by 17% in 2018

MANILA, Philippines — Megaworld, the Andrew Tan-led property giant, recorded a 17 percent increase in net income to P15.2 billion in 2018 from P13 billion a year ago as the company’s rental business remained strong.

The company raked in P57.4 billion in revenue last year, up 15 percent from P50 billion a year ago with the recurring business performing well.

Megaworld’s rental business is comprised of office and commercial leasing. This segment posted a 21 percent growth in revenue to P14.3 billion in 2018 from the previous year’s P11.8 billion, accounting for 25 percent of the total consolidated revenues during the year.

In 2018 alone, Megaworld has already achieved over 70 percent of its rental income target of P20 billion by end of 2020.

Megaworld chief strategy officer Kevin Tan said the company has already secured multiple pre-lease deals for office buildings as well that are in the pipeline until next year.

Tenants include business process outsourcing companies, offshore gaming support services and many other businesses in various industries.

The same goes for its mall and commercial spaces that are set to open in various townships.

“For our residential properties, we continue to see strong take-up especially in our mature townships, and there is already a consistently growing interest in our newly-launched townships,” Tan said.

Megaworld’s residential business also grew by double-digit or by 11.5 percent last year to P38 billion from P34.1 billion during the same period the previous year.

This contributed to 66 percent of the total consolidated revenue  during the year.

Megaworld’s hotel business, meanwhile, grew its revenue by about 14 percent to P1.5 billion in 2018 compared to P1.3 billion in 2017.

The strong growth followed the launch of two new hotels last year.

One is the 684-room Savoy Hotel Manila in Newport City and the other is the 126-room Twin Lakes Hotel in Twin Lakes, Laurel, Batangas.

This brought the number of Megaworld hotels to seven by end-2018.

Tan said the company is reaping the fruits of its expansion throughout the country, addressing the continuing growth in the demand for residential units as well as office and commercial spaces in our various townships across the country.

“As we build these townships, people saw the advantage of living where they work, and living where everything is just within reach. This model makes every aspect of our business viable and expandable, and we continue to spot for opportunities where we can further grow and innovate our offerings,” he said.

Over the last 30 years, the Megaworld Group has expanded its township developments across the Philippines.