Megaworld to double portfolio in 10 years
MANILA, Philippines - Megaworld Corp. is keen on leveraging its massive land bank as it aims to double the size of its township, residential condominium, office and retail portfolio in the next 10 years to support its growth initiatives.
Speaking before the company’s stockholders yesterday, Megaworld chairman and president Andrew Tan said the group is well positioned to aggressively pursue new horizons, which include the tourism business, to further strengthen its position as a leading property developer.
Megaworld completed yesterday the acquisition of 5.405 billion shares of Global-Estate Resorts Inc. for P1.93 apiece or a total of P10.43 billion, officially marking its entry into the tourism sector and effectively beefing up its landholding by around 3,000 hectares.
With the purchase, Megaworld now owns 80.4 percent of GERI, which controls a vast land bank in Tagaytay, Alabang, Iloilo, Cagayan de Oro and Boracay.
Megaworld executive director Kingson Sian said the company now enjoys unparalled access to around 4,000 hectares of land, sufficient to fuel sustained growth in the next 15 years.
Sian said the consolidation of all real estate businesses of tycoon Andrew L. Tan under Megaworld allows the company to seize the opportunities in the resurgent property sector.
The move, he said, is also in line with the group’s goal of doubling its product inventory in the next 10 years. Over the past 24 years, it has completed more than 320 residential and office buildings with total area of 5.6 million square meters.
Megaworld currently has 10 townships across the country covering around 300 hectares of land. About 185 properties with a total area of 5.4 million square meters are under development.
“What we’ve done in the past 25 years, we will do in the next 10 years,†Sian said.
Sian said the company remains upbeat on the property sector as it sees reservation sales breaching P70 billion this year on the back of sustained demand. Lease revenues are seen to hit P10 billion by 2017-2018 from the projected P7 billion this year.
Megaworld expects to sustain a double-digit growth in earnings given its new stream of projects.
The company is hoping to make its presence felt in the tourism sector with the development of a 1,149-hectare masterplanned tourism estate in Batangas by GERI. The project, dubbed Twin Lakes, will be home to themed residential villages, luxury condominiums, hotels and spa, a retirement community, schools, commercial and retail hubs as well as sports and leisure facilities.
Another ongoing major project of GERI is the 150-hectare Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island. Positioned to be the next hip, world-class side of Boracay, Boracay Newcoast will soon be home to four international hotels, a Santorini-inspired boutique hotel district, an Ibiza-inspired commercial district, a residential village, luxury condominiums and upscale villas. Boracay Newcoast occupies 14 percent of the entire Boracay Island and is surrounded by Fairways and Bluewater, the island’s first and only golf course.
Other projects of GERI include Southwoods City and the 170-hectare Sta. Barbara Heights in Iloilo.
Located in Carmona Cavite, Southwoods City is envisioned to become the next central business district south of Manila. The 561-hectare development will be home to residential villages, residential condominiums, office towers, a mall, as well as commercial and retail centers.
Sta. Barbara Heights, on the other hand, will rise beside the famous Sta. Barbara Golf Course, known as Asia’s oldest golf course. More than half of the development will be for residential villages while the rest will be allocated for office towers as well as commercial and retail strips connected to the new Iloilo International Airport.
Aside from GERI, Megaworld wholly owns Suntrust Properties Inc. and majority of Empire East Land Holdings.
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