By James A. Loyola
Global-Estate Resorts, Inc. (GERI), Megaworld’s integrated tourism and leisure brand, reported that its net income jumped 45 percent to a record high of P1.6 billion last year from P1.1-billion in 2016.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, GERI said last year’s profit included a P113 million non-recurring gain while the 2016 figure was inclusive of an P82.5 million non-recurring gain).
On the other hand, GERI’s attributable net income reached P1.5 billion in 2017, up 56 percent from the previous year’s P966 million.
GERI’s growing number of tourism estates and integrated lifestyle communities backed by expansive land bank has been the company’s backbone for growth since it was consolidated into the Megaworld Group in 2014.
The firm’s strong growth was mostly attributed to its real estate sales, which comprised more than 70 percent of the business.
Residential sales grew to P4.5 billion in 2017, up 4 percent from the previous year’s P4.4 billion, mostly from the residential projects in Alabang West, Boracay Newcoast and Twin Lakes.
Moreover, the company continued to aggressively complete its residential projects during the year as realized gross profits from prior years’ sales soared 112 percent to P819 million compared to the previous year’s P386 million.
“In the next three years, we will be introducing more integrated lifestyle communities where nature becomes the focal point of our developments. Our existing land bank offers abundant nature reserves that we want to further nurture and preserve as part of our communities,” said GERI President Monica Salomon.
GERI also posted a 54 percent hike in rental income to a record P161 million from the previous year’s P105 million after opening its first full-scale mall in 2017, the P2 billion Southwoods Mall in Southwoods City, Biñan, Laguna.
Branded under the umbrella of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls, it is the first and only full-scale mall development within the Biñan-Carmona area, complete with its own state-of-the-art cinemas, food hall and supermarket.