MERRYMART, DOUBLEDRAGON SAW DOUBLE-DIGIT H1 PROFIT GROWTH

The property and retail business led by tycoon Edgar Sia II booked higher earnings during the first six months of the year on resilient leasing income and consumer spending.

DoubleDragon Corp., Sia’s property venture with fastfood billionaire Tony Tan Caktiong, said net income from January to June had jumped 33 percent to P1.6 billion versus the same period last year.

Sia’s listed supermarket operator, MerryMart Consumer Corp., also booked profits of

P40.24 million, up 24.8 percent during the same period.

DoubleDragon, which also owns the fast-growing Hotel101 condotel chain, reported robust revenue growth as it exceeded its target to reach 1 million square meters (sqm) of leasable space.

Revenues during the first semester reached nearly P4 billion, up 15.6 percent. The company’s leasable space stood at about 1.3 million sqm while total assets as of June 30 this year amounted to P163 billion.

“We are grateful for the experience and learnings the past eight years has taught us and we are excited as today is actually 180 days to the Year of the Dragon, which we believe to be an auspicious and monumental year for DoubleDragon Corp.,” Sia, the chair and CEO of DoubleDragon, said in a statement on Tuesday.

In a separate filing on Tuesday, MerryMart said revenues from January to June this year had risen 29 percent to P3.71 billion while total assets amounted to P11.53 billion, up nearly 37 percent.

MerryMart’s stop formats include MerryMart Express, MerryMart Market, MerryMart Grocery and MerryMart Wholesale.