Megaworld H1 income hits P4.21B

MEGAWORLD Corp., the flagship real estate arm of billionaire Andrew Tan, said net income during the first half grew 17 percent to P4.21 billion compared to the same period last year, led by contributions from the sale and lease of properties, a filing on Monday showed.

Megaworld said total revenues in- creased by almost 12 percent to P17.28 billion.

Most of the company revenues still come from the sale of condominium units and residential lots. This segment grew 12.74 percent to P10.53 billion.

Rental income, which contributed 16.37 percent to total revenues, rose 25.32 percent to P2.83 billion.

Megaworld attributed gains to higher leasing rates and the comple- tion of new office buildings, helping supply demand from business process outsourcing companies.

Its hotel operations, meanwhile, increased 1.10 percent to P225 million.

Megaworld is part of a larger group of property firms owned by Tan, which includes listed firms Empire East Land Holdings Inc. and Suntrust Home Developers Inc.

The group posted P38 billion in reservations sales in the first half, up 27 percent year-on-year, Megaworld said in a separate statement.

“Based on our first half performance, we are well on track to hit our target of P70 billion in reservation sales for the year 2013. The Megaworld Group is looking to launch at least 25 residential projects for this year,” Tan said in the statement.