MREIT earnings hit P677M on higher occupancy rates

MEGAWORLD Corp.’s real estate investment trust, MREIT, Inc., registered a P677-million net income for the second quarter of the year due to higher occupancy rates.

In a press release, MREIT said that 96.5% of new occupancy contracts had been secured during the April-June period. It derives its revenues through leasing real properties.

The company ended the period with P893 million in revenues. Its distributable income totaled P638 million for the three-month period to sustain its strong performance in the previous quarter.

No comparative figures were given as MREIT held its initial public offering only on Oct. 1, 2021.

Its board approved the declaration of dividends which is higher by 1.6% than the previous quarter to P0.25 per share, bringing the company’s annualized dividend yield to 6.2%.

“We remain focused on delivering attractive returns to MREIT investors. We continue to manage our assets proactively, which allowed us to register net positive take-up in our portfolio,” MREIT President and Chief Executive Office Kevin L. Tan said.

The company disclosed that these figures do not yet include the additional income arising from the recently announced property-for-share swap transaction.

MREIT announced in April the acquisition of P5.3-billion additional four prime properties located in the Iloilo Business Park in Iloilo City’s Mandurriao district, and McKinley West in Taguig City.

The acquisition is still subject to the approval of the Securities and Exchange Commission.

“Once completed, the acquisition will expand MREIT’s portfolio gross leasable area (GLA) by 16% to 325,000 square meters covering 18 office properties in four Megaworld premier townships,” the company said.

Three of these are in Eastwood City, namely: 1800 Eastwood Avenue, 1880 Eastwood Avenue, and E-Commerce Plaza.

In McKinley Hill, the offices include One World Square, Two World Square, Three World Square, 8/10 Upper McKinley, 18/20 Upper McKinley, and World Finance Plaza.

One Techno Place, Two Techno Place, Three Techno Place, One Global Center, Two Global Center, Festive Walk 1B, and Richmonde Tower are the office properties in Iloilo Business Park.

Two are in McKinley West — One West Campus and Five West Campus.

MREIT was designated by Megaworld, its parent and sponsor, to operate as its flagship REIT company, the primary focus of which will be office and retail leasing to a diversified tenant base.

On Friday, shares in MREIT closed lower by 0.88% or 14 centavos to P15.70 apiece. — Justine Irish D. Tabile

https://www.bworldonline.com/corporate/2022/08/08/466518/mreit-earnings-hit-p677m-on-higher-occupancy-rates/?fbclid=IwAR2cF9hsZ-odTxukK7WMCsfVDs8f9hKuqCOyJ0nRHw5o0mogfHJTs6th-C4