Megaworld says 9-month net income up 16%

Megaworld Corp. on Wednesday reported a 16% growth in bottom line for the first nine months of the year, driven by the strength of its business segments.

Net income, excluding non-recurring gains rose to P13.5 billion, while net income attributable to the parent company grew by 14% to P12.8 billion.

“Megaworld’s consistent growth across all business segments is a clear indicator of where the company is going, and we are very optimistic to finish the year strong,” Kevin Tan, Megaworld chief strategy officer, said in a statement.

“We have already introduced quite a number of real estate projects this year, which reflects the kind of demand that we have been seeing since last year,” Tan noted.

Megaworld has earmarked P10 billion for at least eight new malls in the next three years.

In March, the company said it was eyeing to build 30 townships across the country in the next two years.

“Megaworld will always be market driven. And as long as we see this type of demand on the ground, then we will continue to launch projects aggressively,” Tan noted.

The company expects to complete the construction of four new full-scale malls in the next three years, including The Capital Mall in Capital Town, Pampanga; Mactan Newtown Beach Walk in The Mactan Newtown, Cebu; Upper East Mall in The Upper East in Bacolod City; and the Highland Mall in Highland City in Cainta, Rizal.

“Our rental business remains to be a key driver to our consistent growth, and we see this to become stronger in the coming years as we roll our more office and retail spaces in our townships across the country,” said Tan.

In terms of the  hotel business, Megaworld said revenue in the first nine months grew by 82% to P1.9 billion versus P1.0 billion a year earlier.

“In the long term, we see our hotel operations to be a major contributor to our growth as we continue to accelerate our hotel developments,” Tan noted.

Megaworld is engaged in three primary business segments—residential development sales; office space leasing primarily to BPO enterprises, and retail space; and hotel management.

Its subsidiaries include Richmonde Hotel Group International Limited, Eastwood Cyber One Corporation, Suntrust Properties Inc., Empire East Land Holdings Inc., Global-Estate Resorts Inc., and Bonifacio West Development Corporation. —Jon Viktor Cabuenas/VDS, GMA News