Property developer Megaworld Corp. said Wednesday it booked a net income of P6.03 billion in the first half, up 11 percent from P5.43 billion a year ago, as it pursued aggressive township developments in Metro Manila and other key areas.
First-half consolidated revenues rose 4.5 percent to P23 billion from P22 billion a year ago, as real estate sales, which accounted for the nearly 60 percent of total revenues, reached P13.4 billion.
Rental income in January to June contributed 21 percent to total revenues, and jumped 15 percent to P4.84 billion from a year ago.
The property firm attributed the increase in rental income to aggressive expansion of the group’s leasing portfolio, escalation of rental rates and high demand for office space from BPO companies.
The company is scheduled to deliver 150,000 square meters of office space and 75,000 square meters of commercial space annually until 2020.
It is set to breach the 1-million-square-meter mark in terms of total leasable space this year.
Revenues from hotel operations also jumped 64.8 percent to P590 million in the six-month period from P358 million a year ago.
“The government’s thrust to expand economic opportunities to the regions is parallel to Megaworld’s direction in expanding its developments outside of Metro Manila where the company is already strong. The beauty behind our diversification story is that it is intrinsically part of our drive towards nation building— we bring growth where we are headed,” Megaworld treasurer Francis Canuto said.
Megaworld said in the second quarter alone, it registered P3.39-billion net income, an increase of 10.4 percent from P3.07 billion net profit booked in the same quarter last year. Second-quarter revenues were flat at P11.56 billion.
Meanwhile, consolidated core revenues of Megaworld Group, including subsidiary brands Global-Estate Resorts Inc., Empire East Land Holdings Inc. and Suntrust Properties Inc. reached P23 billion in the first half, up by 5 percent from P22 billion a year ago.
