Megaworld Corp, Deutsche Bank unit team up for mortgage financing service

Megaworld Corp. will collaborate with RREF, a division of the Deutsche Bank Group, to explore the creation of the country’s first structured end-to-end mortgage financing program for the property firm’s projects.

Under the deal, the parties will contribute their respective expertise in real estate development and real estate financial advisory services to develop a comprehensive structured mortgage financing platform, enabling existing and potential buyers of Megaworld’s residential projects to access cost-efficient, long-term mortgage financing.

Megaworld said it is best positioned to benefit from the rising property market and demand specifically for mid-income residential housing as it continues to maintain market leadership in the sector.

"The company believes that there is no better time than now to embark on this pioneering effort for an integrated housing finance program that could boost its growth prospects and strengthen its competitive edge," Megaworld said in a disclosure report to security regulators.

RREF is considered the world’s leading real estate investment manager while Megaworld is the pioneer of integrated master-planned communities in Metro Manila under the "live-work-play" concept.

With the success of its first township project, Eastwood City, Megaworld has expanded to five more mega-communities strategically located in key urban growth centers in Metro Manila.

Megaworld recently launched the Manhattan Garden City, the largest residential development in Araneta Center, Cubao comprising 9,000 condominium units in 20 residential towers stretching from Aurora Boulevard to P. Tuazon Avenue.

Megaworld reported a 58 percent jump in its first half net profit to P864 million from P545 million in the same period last year on higher sales across all product lines. Revenues grew 22 percent to P3.3 billion while rental income rose 20 percent to P323 million.

Megaworld executive director Kingson Sian said the company’s impressive performance reflects an increasingly buoyant property market and underscores the company’s well-entrenched position as one of the largest and most successful developers in the country.

Sian said the company expects to meet its growth targets going forward especially with the launching of Manhattan Garden City and Cityplace in Manila’s Chinatown.

Cityplace is a mixed-use development with 2,000 residential units, a retail center, offices and a hotel. It is considered a significant development, as it is the first major urban renewal project in Manila covering an entire 2.5-hectare block in the center of Chinatown.