MREIT DELIVERED P 687M IN Q2 EARNINGS

MREIT Inc., the real estate investment trust arm of billionaire Andrew Tan’s property group Megaworld Corp., said it was on track to deliver targeted dividend payouts to shareholders after recording a P687.2-million profit in the first quarter of 2022.

MREIT, which listed on the Philippine Stock Exchange last October, did not provide comparative figures in its statement.

It said the earnings translated to a distributable income of P639 million, up 18 percent compared with the previous quarter.

Revenues during the January to March period of 2022 also hit P901.6 million, the statement showed.

“Our solid performance in the first quarter of 2022 affirms our efforts to sustain MREIT’s growth via a combination of organic and inorganic means,” MREIT president and CEO Kevin Tan said.

“The combination of rent escalation, steady occupancy and implementation of our acquisition plans puts us on track to deliver on our targeted returns for our shareholders in 2022,” he added.

The company earlier declared a first quarter dividend payout of P0.243 per share. It also announced a P1 per share fullyear 2022 cash dividend target.

MREIT hinted at higher returns because the target “does not yet consider the upside impact of the acquisitions that MREIT is contemplating this year.”

The company earlier announced the P5.27-billion acquisition of four office buildings within Megaworld’s township projects in Iloilo City and Taguig City in Metro Manila. These are the Festive Walk 1B and Two Global Center in Iloilo Business Park as well as One West Campus and Five West Campus in McKinley West, Taguig City.

“We hope to complete the acquisition within the month of May. We look forward to the completion of this deal as it will further cement MREIT’s presence in the Fort Bonifacio area, which continues to command one of the highest rental rates in the Philippines today,” Tan said in the statement.

MREIT said the offices would boost its total leasable space by 16 percent to 325,000 square meters.

Meanwhile, it restated its plan to grow the portfolio to 18 office properties in four Megaworld townships.