Megaworld H1 profit up on higher residential sales

MANILA, Philippines — Strong residential sales lifted property giant Megaworld Corp.’s first-half earnings by 15% to P4.25 billion from P3.69 billion in the same period a year ago.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday, August 12, Megaworld, owned by tycoon Andrew Tan, reported total revenues of P17.28 billion, up 12% from P15.3 billion in 2012.

Megaworld, together with subsidiaries Empire East Land and Suntrust Properties, booked P38 billion in reservation sales in the first semester, 27% higher year-on-year.

As of end-June, Megaworld completed 14 projects, while Empire East and Suntrust rolled out 5 and 2 projects, respectively. The projects that saw the strongest demand from the market were Newport City, Uptown Bonifacio, McKinley Hill and Eastwood City.

Tan said Megaworld is well on track to hitting its P70 billion reservation sales target for 2013. “The Megaworld group is looking to launch at least 25 residential projects this year,” he said.

Rental income from office buildings and malls also contributed to first-half profit growth. Megaworld posted P2.83 billion in rental income at end-June, up 25% from the P2.26 billion in 2012.

“We will continue to build more office developments and lifestyle malls to support the growing demands of the BPO industry and the retail consumers. This will enable us to achieve another record year for our rental income in 2013,” said Tan. – Rappler.com