PROPERTY giant Megaworld Corp. reported that its net income grew 17 percent to P15.8 billion in 2018 from P13.6 billion in 2017.
The company, in a press statement, said its consolidated revenues grew by about 15 percent to P57.4 billion in 2018 from the previous year’s P50 billion.
Both figures excluded the P113-million non-recurring gain.
Its rental businesses, comprising of office and lifestyle mall leasing, strongly contributed to the topline.
It soared by 21 percent to P14.3 billion from P11.8 billion, accounting for a fourth or 25 percent of the total consolidated revenues.
Megaworld said it achieved in 2018 over 70 percent of its rental income target of P20 billion by the end of next year.
The company opened last year its biggest mall development outside of Metro Manila, the Festive Walk Mall at Iloilo Business Park in Iloilo City, with around 90,000 square meters in gross floor area.
It also opened two new community malls – the San Lorenzo Place in Makati City, and The Village Alabang in Las Piñas City.
Also in 2018, the firm closed a historic deal in the Philippine real estate industry when it bagged the long-term lease contract to build the 25-story Philippine Global Service Center of JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A.
It was regarded as the country’s biggest single lease transaction to date with around 70,000 square meters of “build-to-suit” office spaces for a single company alone.
Kevin Tan, chief strategy officer of Megaworld, said the firm has already secured multiple pre-lease deals for its office buildings which are in the pipeline until next year.
The same goes to the mall and commercial spaces that are set to open in Megaworld’s various townships, Tan said.
“For our residential properties, we continue to see strong take-up especially in our mature townships, and there is already a consistently growing interest in our newly-launched townships,” he added.
Megaworld’s residential business grew by 11.5 percent in 2018.
Its hotel business, likewise, grew its revenues by about 14 percent.
“We have gained the fruits of our expansion in the regions as we saw continuing growth in the demand for residential units as well as office and commercial spaces in our various townships across the country,” Tan said. (Erwin P. Nicavera)