Megaworld gets 39% profit boost from office leasing, retail, hospitality units

ANDREW L. Tan’s listed property firm Megaworld Corp. posted a 39% growth in net attributable income to P2.6 billion in the second quarter compared with last year’s P1.9 billion on the back of improved performance across its office leasing business, and its retail and hospitality arm.

“We attribute the steady recovery of our businesses to our ability to identify opportunities amidst the pandemic, as we continue to focus our efforts to create products and services that meet the evolving needs of our customers,” Kevin Andrew L. Tan, chief strategy officer of Megaworld, said in a statement on Wednesday.

The company’s core revenues for the quarter went up by 20%, amounting to P11.2 billion as all of its business units recovered. Meanwhile, its rental income went up by four percent to P3.2 billion.

Rental income for Megaworld Premier Offices inched up by four percent to P2.7 billion.

“The company has been seeing bright prospects ahead on the back of the steady growth outlook for the BPO (business process outsourcing) sector, which makes up the bulk of Megaworld’s office locators,” Megaworld said.

Megaworld Lifestyle Malls sustained its growth since the third quarter last year, logging a five percent increase in rental income to P537 million.

Meanwhile, Megaworld Hotels & Resorts went up by 16% in hotel revenues to P389 million due to the “stable performance” of its in-city hotels and after it launched its Kingsford Hotel in Westside City in March.

Megaworld’s real estate sales went up by 29% during the April-to-June period, closing with P7.6 billion as construction activities improved.

The company’s attributable net income for the first semester inched down by seven percent year on year to finish the period with P5 billion, while consolidated revenues amounted to P22.2 billion. Megaworld’s core revenues stood at P20.6 billion.

Rental revenues declined by 13% to P6.3 billion from P7.2 billion, real estate sales dipped by five percent to P13.5 billion, reservation sales for the period amounted to P37.2 billion, and hotel revenues shed 21% to P724 million from P918 million.

Shares of Megaworld at the stock market improved by 0.72% or two centavos on Wednesday, closing at P2.80 each.

Article and Photo originally posted by Business World last June 4, 2021 12:06am and written by Keren Concepcion G. Valmonte.