By Zinnia B. Dela Peña (The Philippine Star) Updated August 13, 2010 12:00
MANILA, Philippines - Megaworld Corp., the upscale property unit of tycoon Andrew Tan, reported a 12-percent growth in its first half net income, mainly driven by the continued strength of its real estate sales and rental income.
In a statement issued yesterday, Megaworld said its net earnings rose to P2.24 billion on the back of a six-percent growth in revenues to P9.29 billion.
Real estate sales amounted to P6.1 billion, slightly higher than the P6.06 billion recorded a year earlier.
Rental income from its BPO office and retail developments reached P1.28 billion, 36 percent higher than the previous level of P939.72 million.
As of end-June this year, Megaworld had cash and cash equivalents amounting to P20.85 billion.
“We remain optimistic about the prospects of the property industry. Our new project launches, specially those in Mc Kinley Hill and Newport City, have been selling quite well. We are definitely on track to meeting our sales targets for the year. Our BPO buildings have, likewise, been the location of choice for top-name BPO companies” said Kingson Sian, executive director and senior vice-president of Megaworld.
“Our optimism, coupled with our strong financial position, will enable us to further carry out our plans of building better communities that will change the property landscape,” he added.
Megaworld is a premier residential developer in the Philippines and pioneered the development of community townships that incorporate the live-work-play-learn concept.
The company has six ongoing projects within Metro Manila and several residential developments within the Makati central business district.
Megaworld was the first to develop an information technology park in the Philippines through its project in Eastwood City, which provides a 24/7 work environment to business process operations servicing the global market.
With the success of Eastwood City, Megaworld expanded its portfolio to McKinley Hill, which is now home to some of the biggest names in the BPO industry.
Megaworld is acknowledged as the leader in office development and is currently the largest BPO office landlord. By the end of 2010, the company would have close to 385,000 square meters of office space in its portfolio.
Megaworld, likewise, has projects that have yet to be launched in Iloilo and Cebu.
Last year, it acquired land in North Bonifacio and Jusmag, thus making it the largest landowner in Fort Bonifacio.
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