Megaworld to infuse more properties into its REIT unit

MANILA, Philippines — Megaworld Corp. will inject more properties into its real estate investment trust (REIT) firm in a bid to diversify the subsidiary's portfolio and attract more investors.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, MREIT Inc. said it would receive P15 billion worth of commercial assets from Megaworld.

Under the transaction, Megaworld is "considering properties from townships in key growth areas outside of Metro Manila where MREIT does not have a presence yet,” Kevin Tan, MREIT president and CEO, said.

“This will further diversify our portfolio and allow us to tap into other growth centers around the country,” Tan explained.

The hefty property infusion is part of MREIT’s grand plan of expanding its property holdings to 1 million square meters before the end of the decade.

For this year alone, MREIT is looking to absorb P20 million worth of office properties from Megaworld. Just last month, MREIT announced it would receive P5.3 billion worth of assets from its parent firm through a property-for-share swap deal.

A bigger property holdings mean more distributable income for MREIT that it must reward to investors through dividends. After MREIT received P9.1 billion worth of assets from its parent last year, the company said it is now looking at declaring dividends equivalent to P1.00 per share this year, which is 6% higher than originally planned.

Once the pending acquisitions are completed, MREIT said its portfolio will cover 18 office properties in four Megaworld premier townships.

On Monday, shares in MREIT inched up 0.12% while Megaworld finished the trading day with 2.18% gains.