PROPERTY giant Megaworld, the country’s pioneer and largest developer of townships, saw its net income grow by 18% to P4.1-billion in the first quarter of 2019 from P3.5-billion during the same period last year.

Excluding a non-recurring gain of about P189-million in the first three months of 2019, the company saw a 13% growth in net income compared to the same figure last year.

Net income attributable to parent company ended at P3.8-billionduring the period this year, growing 16% from P3.3-billion last year.

The company’s double-digit growth in earnings was backed by strong outputs from each of its core businesses: residential sales, leasing from offices and Lifestyle Malls, as well as hotel operations.

Megaworld’s consolidated revenues was up 15% to P14.9-billion during the first quarter of the year compared to P13-billion during the same period last year.

Around 64% of total revenues came from the company’s residential business, while 26% came from rentals, and 4% from hotel operations. The rest came from the company’s non-core revenues.

“It is always encouraging to see all of our core businesses exhibiting positive growth during the first quarter as this sets our pace for the rest of the year. We will be working towards maintaining the growth momentum until year-end. We are confident that stronger numbers will be achievable given our pipeline of projects this year,” says Kevin L. Tan, chief strategy officer, Megaworld.

Residential sales grew 11% to P9.5-billion during the first quarter from P8.5-billion during the same period last year. From January to March, the company has already generated around P48-billion in reservation sales and has injected about P24-billion worth of new inventory into the market.

Megaworld’s rental businesses, likewise, soared 16% to P3.9-billion during the first quarter of the year compared to P3.4-billion in the same period in 2018. The company is scheduled to complete more than 230,000 sq m of leasable spaces from its office spaces and Lifestyle Malls spaces in various townships all over the country.

The company’s hotel business became the fastest growing segment during the quarter, soaring 56% to P574-million compared to last year’s P368-million.

“We have launched two new hotels last year – the Savoy Hotel Manila in Newport City, and the Twin Lakes Hotel near Tagaytay. This year, we expect to add over 1,000 rooms as we open Belmont Hotel Boracay, Hotel Lucky Chinatown, and Savoy Hotel Mactan Newtown,” reveals Tan.

Now on its 30^th year, Megaworld has 24 master planned townships and integrated lifestyle communities across the country, namely: Eastwood City in Libis, Quezon City, (18.5 hectares); Newport City in Pasay City (25 hectares); McKinley Hill (50 hectares), McKinley West (34.5 hectares), Uptown Bonifacio (15.4 hectares) and Forbes Town (5 hectares), all in Fort Bonifacio, Taguig City; The Mactan Newtown in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu (30 hectares); Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City (72 hectares); Sta. Barbara Heights in Sta. Barbara, Iloilo (173 hectares); Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island (150 hectares); Twin Lakes in Alfonso, Batangas near Tagaytay (1,300 hectares); ArcoVia City in Pasig City (12.3 hectares); Southwoods City in the boundaries of Cavite and Laguna (561 hectares);Davao Park District in Lanang, Davao City (11 hectares); Alabang West in Las Piñas City (62 hectares); Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal (640 hectares); Suntrust Ecotown in Tanza, Cavite (350 hectares); Maple Grove in General Trias, Cavite (140 hectares);The Hamptons Caliraya in Lumban-Cavinti, Laguna (300 hectares); The Upper East (34 hectares) and Northill Gateway (50 hectares) both in Negros Occidental; Capital Town Pampanga beside the Pampanga Provincial Capitol in the City of San Fernando (35.6-hectares);Westside City in the Entertainment City in Paranaque City (31 hectares); and Highland City in Antipolo, Rizal (24 hectares).