Megaworld earnings up by over 50%

MANILA, Philippines - Robust sales from its various township projects lifted the first quarter earnings of Megaworld Corp., the flagship property unit of tycoon Andrew L. Tan.

In a statement, Megaworld said profits surged more than half to P2.69 billion, inclusive of a P604-million non-recurring gain, in the January to March period from P1.81 billion, a year earlier.

It attributed the growth to “strong residential sales in its various townships, particularly in Newport City, Uptown Bonifacio, McKinley Hill and Eastwood City; and higher leasing income from its office and retail portfolio.”

 â€œAs we celebrate our 25 years in the real estate industry, we look forward to another record-breaking year for Megaworld as we aggressively expand our townships across the country,” said Tan, Megaworlds chairman and CEO.

Megaworld’s rental income from office developments and lifestyle malls improved to P1.7 billion in the first quarter, up 23 percent from P1.39 billion last year.

Total revenues of Megaworld and subsidiaries Empire East Land Holdings and Suntrust Properties, reached P9.94 billion, higher 22 percent from P8.15 billion a year ago.

Megaworld and its subsidiaries recorded a nine-percent growth in reservation sales to P19.6 billion in in the first quarter.

Last week, Megaworld announced its plan to consolidate all of Tan’s property assets by acquiring the 49.2-percent share of Investment holding firm Alliance Global Group Inc. (AGI) in Global-Estate Resorts Inc.

The company will also 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 spaces to end 2014 with around 712,000 sqm. of office space in its portfolio.

In its 25 years of operations, the group has completed more than 240 residential and office buildings.

Megaworld is the property arm of AGI, which is also into liquor (Emperador Distillers, Inc.), fastfood (McDonaldís franchise operator Golden Arches Development Corp.) and hotels and casino (Travellers International Hotel Group Inc.).