Megaworld income grows by 7.2%; firm eyes continued growth in 2010

Listed real estate company Megaworld Corp.’s net income for 2009 rose by almost a tenth on the back of strong sales from its residential and township projects, as well as growing office developments mainly catering to the call center industry. The Andrew Tan-led company told the Philippine Stock Exchange on Friday its net income grew to P4.06 billion for 2009, 7.2 percent higher than the year-ago level. “Megaworld performed well despite the challenging economic environment. We are confident that this is a result of the strategic directions we undertook in prior years and our continued focus on our business model," Executive Director Kingson Sian said in a statement. The company’s consolidated revenues went up by 2.7 percent to P17.8 billion, while real estate sales rose by 1.6 percent to P12.6 billion from 2008. Bullish about its 2010 performance, the company is eyeing further expansion in its office developments as well as residential projects. One of the company’s major clients are call center companies, which currently occupy 306,000 square meters of its properties. Megaworld plans to expand its available BPO office space by 78,000 square meters by the end of 2010. “With our strong financial position, solid recurring revenue and profit streams, we are confident about 2010. Apart from the office developments we will be completing, we will continue to launch new residential developments. We will, likewise, continue to be on the lookout for possible opportunities for growth," Kingson said. Megaworld has six ongoing township projects in Metro Manila, as well as several residential developments in Makati City. Among its township projects are Manhattan Garden City and Eastwood City Quezon City; Newport City in Pasay; Forbes Town Center and McKinley Hills in Taguig City; and Cityplace in Manila. –Nikka Corsino, GMANews.TV