MANILA, Philippines — Megaworld Inc.’s real estate investment trust company reported net income of P687.2 million in the first quarter of 2022, driven in part by efforts to expand its portfolio as it repurchased properties at the end of last year.
In a statement to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Wednesday, the MREIT said its revenue reached P901.6 million in the first three months of 2022, with distributable income up 18% to P639 million on a quarterly basis.
The real estate giant’s REIT company has not been bothered by the pandemic-induced economic slowdown, as it completed the acquisition of four properties, acquiring a value of 9.1 billion pesos in December 2021. This decision increased MREIT’s gross leasable area by 25% to 224,000 square meters since its stock market debut last August.
In March, MREIT’s fortunes improved and his portfolio was worth 59.3 billion pesos.
“Our strong performance in the first quarter of 2022 confirms our efforts to support the growth of the MREIT through a combination of organic and inorganic means. The combination of rising rents, stable occupancy and the execution of our acquisition plans puts us on track to meet our shareholder return targets in 2022,” said Kevin Tan, president and CEO of the company.
The REIT’s impressive financial performance has allowed it to reward investors. MREIT declared dividends of P0.243 per share based on its first quarter income, which the company hopes to increase to P1 dividend per share by the end of 2022. If realized, the dividends would be above the 6 % initially indicated in its previous plan.
Similarly, MREIT is seeking to complete the property-for-equity swap deal with its parent company this month to acquire four properties worth 5.3 billion pesos, which will expand the GLA of its portfolio to 325,000 square meters.
MREIT noted that the deal will see its portfolio span 18 office buildings in four of Megaworld’s townships.
