Buoyed by strong rental income and consistent residential revenues, Megaworld, the Philippines’ largest developer of integrated urban townships, saw its net income grow by 11% to P2.9-billion in the first quarter of 2017, from P2.6-billion during the same period last year.

Consolidated revenues of the Megaworld Group, which includes subsidiary brands Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI), Empire East Land Holdings, Inc. and Suntrust Properties, Inc., amounted to P12-billion for the first three months of the year, up 5% from P11.5-billion in the same period last year.

Residential revenues, mostly from its inventory of condominiums and villages across the country, remained steady and continued to contribute around 70 percent of the company’s revenue pie.

Rental income, on the other hand, expanded to a record P2.9-billion during the first quarter of 2017, up 26% from last year’s P2.3-billion. The company’s recurring income, which comes from office and commercial/mall rentals, contributes around 24 percent of the total quarterly revenues.

Hotel revenues likewise grew 23% during the first quarter of the 2017 to P335-million compared to the P271-million of the same period last year as the company expanded its homegrown hotel brands, Richmonde and Belmont, in Iloilo City and Pasay City, respectively.

“Our long-term goal is to strengthen our recurring income base while we maintain our leadership in residential developments. We already have a solid landbanking in place. All we have to do is to maximize the use of these lands to further expand our presence especially in key growth areas in the provinces,” says Francis Canuto.

This year, the Megaworld Group is set to launch 20 residential projects in Uptown Bonifacio, McKinley West and McKinley Hill, all in Fort Bonifacio; Iloilo Business Park in Mandurriao, Iloilo City; The Capital Town in the City of San Fernando, Pampanga; Maple Grove in General Trias, Cavite; Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal; Boracay Newcoast in Boracay Island; Sta. Barbara Heights in Iloilo; and Twin Lakes near Tagaytay, covering a total sales value of around P31.2-billion.

“We are also very keen about prospects for tourism. This is a big opportunity for us. We hope to support the government’s tourism programs by building more tourism-related developments such as hotels,” adds Canuto.

Just last month, the company also opened its first Savoy Hotel, another homegrown brand, in Boracay Newcoast. To date, Megaworld-owned hotel brands Richmonde (Richmonde Hotel Ortigas, Eastwood Richmonde Hotel and Richmonde Hotel Iloilo), Belmont (Belmont Hotel Manila) and Savoy (Savoy Hotel Boracay Newcoast) have a total of around 1,500 rooms.

“We now have 22 large-scale townships and communities all over the Philippines so there is definitely a lot of work to be done. Nonetheless, we are excited because most of these are actually outside of Metro Manila. This fits perfectly with the government’s planned infrastructure renaissance,” adds Canuto.

Megaworld’s current roster of townships now include 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); Suntrust Ecotown in Tanza, Cavite (350 hectares) and The Upper East (34 hectares) and Northill Gateway (50 hectares) both in Negros Occidental; The The Capital Town 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 Maple Grove in Cavite (140 hectares).

Late last year, the company introduced its first ‘integrated lifestyle community,’ another concept in real estate development that features nature as extended amenities for its residential properties, with the launch of the 640-hectare Eastland Heights in Antipolo, Rizal.