(Source: Business Mirror | March 26, 2018)
The property-development arm of businessman Andrew Tan reported a double-digit growth rate in its income last year, while income of his gambling business fell mainly due to the loss of its gambling facilities in the middle of last year. Megaworld Corp. said its net income grew 13 percent to P13.3 billion, from last year’s P11.7 billion. The figure includes non-recurring gains for the year.
Strong performances of its key businesses in residential and hotel developments and office, as well as commercial space leasing in malls and shopping centers, helped it increase its profits for the year. Consolidated revenues including nonrecurring gains grew 7 percent to P50.4 billion in 2017, from the previous year’s P46.8 billion. Megaworld’s rental business, which covers both office and commercial-space leasing, grew the fastest among the segments. Rental income soared 18 percent to P11.8 billion in 2017, from last year’s P10 billion.
About 70 percent of Megaworld’s revenues, however, still comes from its residential business that went up by 4 percent to P34.6 billion, from P33.1 billion the previous year.
“We are still way beyond our targets, and we see this momentum to continue until we reach our P20-billion target in annual rental income by 2020, or even beyond that. There is still so much opportunities to tap in the property market, and we are ready for that,” said Francis Canuto, the company’s senior vice president and treasurer. Travellers International Hotel Group Inc., Tan’s gambling arm that operates Resorts Word Manila, said its revenue fell last year to P21.1 billion, a 23-percent decline, from the previous year’s P27.49 billion.
Earnings before interest, depreciation and amortization was almost halved to P3.5 billion, from the previous year’s P6.42 billion.
The company did not provide its net income for last year.
Gross gaming revenues continued to recover after the loss of the second-floor gaming facilities in June 2017, increasing by 22 percent in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter and ending at P17.1 billion, the company said.
“We are pleased to see continuous improvements in our quarterly results and expect to sustain this upward trend, especially with the partial opening of phase three development’s gaming area in the near future. This new facility will be called Grand Wing, while the original facility will be called Garden Wing,” said Kingson Sian, the company’s president and CEO.
Grand Wing will have three international hotels—Hilton Manila, Sheraton Manila Hotel and Hotel Okura Manila, adding approximately 940 rooms. It will also include new gaming and retail spaces, as well as six basement-parking decks.
Megaworld, meanwhile, is allocating P60 billion in capital spending this year, with 80 percent of it covering development projects, mostly residential, office and commercial developments in various townships across the country. The remaining will be set aside for land acquisition and other investment properties, it said.
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