Andrew Tan’s REIT boosts profits to P1.4 B

Property and spirits magnate Andrew Tan’s real estate investment trust MREIT, Inc. improved its distributable income by 12 percent to P1.4 billion during the first half of 2023.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the Megaworld-sponsored REIT said its revenues grew by 15 percent to P2.1 billion from the P1.8 billion recorded in the same period last year.

***MREIT President and CEO Kevin L. Tan***

MREIT said growth was boosted largely by the four newly-acquired Grade-A office towers worth P5.3-billion, which began contributing to its income starting January 1, 2023.

Just recently, MREIT declared cash dividends of P0.2476 per share to its shareholders. The dividends will be payable beginning September 14, 2023 to shareholders on record as of August 23, 2023.

Total dividends for the first half of the year stands at P0.4952 per share. Annualized, this brings MREIT’s dividend yield to 7.1 percent, as of the closing share price of P13.86 per share on August 8, 2023.

Owing to MREIT’s quality assets, average occupancy rate improved to 96 percent as of end-June 2023. This is also significantly higher than the broader office industry’s average occupancy rate of around 82 perce t in Metro Manila.

Out of the total occupied space, 79 percent are BPO tenants while 15 percent are traditional office tenants, both of which are made up of high-quality and sticky tenants.

“Our assets continue to deliver despite the excess supply faced by the office industry. We believe the challenges are only temporary and MREIT is ready to capture the coming demand of a recovering office sector as tenants transition back from the work-from-home setup to hybrid or even a full return-to-office setup,” said MREIT President and CEO Kevin L. Tan.

In June 2023, MREIT and Megaworld (MEG) signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the potential acquisition of seven grade A office assets with a total gross leasable area (GLA) of around 150,500 square meters.

These include buildings located in Megaworld townships McKinley Hill, McKinley West, Iloilo Business Park, and Davao Park District. Once the acquisition is completed, this will increase the GLA of MREIT’s total portfolio by 46 percent to 475,500 sqm.

“Our high occupancy rate and growing BPO tenant base provide us the foundation for a stable organic growth outlook,” said Tan.

He added that, “Our recently announced asset pipeline will significantly grow MREIT’s assets under management, helping us achieve our vision of growing MREIT into a leading REIT in the country and delivering meaningful growth to our shareholders.”

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The article was originally published in Manila Bulletin and written by James A. Loyola.