Megaworld Corp., the property unit of billionaire Andrew Tan, said Tuesday it booked P38 billion in reservation sales from several residential projects in the first semester, despite the market difficulties brought about by the coronavirus pandemic.
Megaworld generated around P17 billion in reservation sales in the second quarter during the height of the implementation of enhanced community quarantine.
“While the method of selling real estate during quarantine period was quite challenging, our digital sales strategies that we’ve been working on since two years ago paved the way for faster, smoother and safer transactions and client engagements. We thank all our customers for the trust and confidence even during this time,” Megaworld chief operating officer Lourdes Gutierrez-Alfonso said.
Reservation sales in June hit a high of P7 billion on strong demand for residential lots in Cavite, Laguna and Rizal and residential properties in Boracay Newcoast and Iloilo Business Park.
Megaworld’s provincial properties made up most of the sales booked in the second quarter.
Its big ticket projects in Arden Botanical Estate (Cavite), Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal, Hamptons Caliraya in Laguna, McKinley Hill and McKinley West in Taguig and the projects in Makati City and Pasig City contributed to the bulk of the period’s reservation sales.
“Even during the ‘enhanced community quarantine in Luzon during the second quarter, we received a lot of inquiries and reservations via our online channels mostly coming from the upper mid-market,” Gutierrez-Alfonso said.
The company opened its showrooms for residential projects across the country with enhanced safety protocols in place such as pre-visit registration, contactless payments, document sanitation and digital presentations aside from the standard regular disinfection of the showroom premises and equipment.
Clients who visit showrooms are also given their own hygiene kits for personal safety.
The property developer earlier reduced its 2020 capital spending to P36 billion from an initial target of P60 billion.
Megaworld’s net income attributable to parent company declined by 9 percent in the first quarter to P3.5 billion from P3.8 billion in the same period last year.