Property developer Megaworld Corp. said Thursday net income climbed 12 percent in the first quarter to P2.63 billion from P2.35 billion a year ago, boosted by strong rental and residential sales.
Megaworld said in a disclosure to the stock exchange consolidated revenues, including those of subsidiaries Global-Estate Resorts Inc., Empire East Land Holdings Inc. and Suntrust Properties Inc., hit P11.46 billion in the January-March period, up by 9.5 percent from 10.47 billion in the same period last year.
“We have sustained our expansion plans for our office and mall businesses, which bolstered our rental revenues. In the next five years, we see our rental businesses become the key driver of our growth as we expect a continuing momentum in consumer spending and a remarkable growth in BPO revenues,” Megaworld treasurer Francis Canuto said.
The group’s rental business soared to a record P2.29 billion in the first quarter, an increase of 15.2 percent from P1.97 billion registered a year earlier.
The company earlier said it expected rental revenues to hit the P11-billion mark by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, residential sales rose 10 percent to P6.86 billion from P6.24-billion in the same period last year.
“We continue to innovate our residential offerings that adapt to the diverse characteristics of each township that we build. That is why we are able to sustain the growth in our residential business,” said Canuto.
“Megaworld has laid out its groundwork of growth by making sound decisions and thorough planning of the vast land bank that we have. This year, we will continue to strengthen, if not expand, our township footprint, where we can build more residential, office and mall developments. Our healthy first quarter results is indicative of another positive outlook for 2016,” he said.
Megaworld now has 20 integrated urban township developments across the Philippines, including Eastwood City in Quezon City, Newport City in Pasay City, Mactan Newtown in Cebu and Iloilo Business Park