Megaworld 1H net income buoyed by real-estate sales, rental

Property firm Megaworld Corp. said on Thursday that its net income in the first semester of the year reached P2.24 billion, higher by 12 percent as against the same period last year. The Andrew Tan-led company attributed this growth to the continued strength of its real-estate sales and rental income. Megaworld disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange that its first-half revenues amounted to P9.29 billion, up by 6 percent from P8.73 billion in the same period last year, as real-estate sales contributed P6.1 billion from P6.06 billion a year ago. Rental income from its business-process outsourcing (BPO) offices and retail developments went up to P1.28 billion in the first half of the year, up by 36 percent from almost P940 million in the same period last year. "We remain optimistic about the prospects of the property industry. Our new project launches, especially those in McKinley Hill and Newport City, have been selling quite well. Our BPO buildings have, likewise, been the location of choice for top BPO companies," said Kingson Sian, Megaworld's executive director and senior vice president. By the end-2010, the company would have close to 385,000 square meters of office space in its portfolio. —JE/OMG, GMANews.TV