Megaworld income jumps in Jan-march

MEGAWORLD Corp., the property development arm of businessman Andrew Tan, said its income for the first quarter leaped by 41 percent to P3.5 billion from last year’s P2.49 billion on the recovery of economic activity.

Consolidated revenues reached P13.1 billion, some 29 percent higher from last year’s P10.2 billion, as all of the company’s business segments posted double-digit growths.

“This is definitely a strong start for us, and affirms that our improved performance can be sustained. While there was some concern last January due to the Omicron variant, consumer confidence remained on the uptrend and our quick recovery showed that we are now in a better position to manage the pandemic and move forward,” Kevin Andrew L. Tan, the company’s executive vice president and chief strategy officer, said.

Real estate sales for the quarter grew 36 percent year-on-year to P8.1 billion as construction activities normalized. Reservation sales also rose 12 percent to P23.2 billion from the previous P20.7 billion.

The company’s office leasing, which achieved a record-high rental income in 2021, registered P3 billion in rental income for the period, up by 16 percent from P2.6 billion last year.

The company’s occupancy rate also improved to 91 percent, higher than the industry average of 82 percent to 83 percent.

Its shopping malls division, which operates 20 branches, posted a rental income growth of 40 percent year-on-year to P717.1 million on the back of improving foot traffic and the increase in retail locators that have restarted their operations.

The company’s hotels and resorts, which operate 11 hotel properties across the country, grew its revenues by half to P502.9 million, as it benefitted from the uptick in leisure-related activities and expansion in domestic travel. The company also noted that meetings, incentives, conferences, exhibitions or MICE activities, have also started to pick up in the middle of the quarter.

“We are now focused on returning to our pre-pandemic performance and to grow beyond that. In fact, we are now looking at opportunities to further expand our geographical footprint in the country this year with the launch of several new townships,” Tan said.