ANDREW L. TAN-LED property developer Megaworld Corp. said it targets launching P40 billion worth of new real estate projects and achieving P145 billion in reservation sales this year.

“Looking ahead to 2024, we are setting an ambitious goal of reaching P145 billion in reservation sales and planning to launch new projects worth P40 billion,” Megaworld Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Andrew L. Tan said during the company’s virtual annual stockholders meeting last week.

Last year, Megaworld recorded P139.2 billion in reservation sales, up 17% from the prior year. It also launched P72.6 billion worth of new projects.

“These targets reflect our commitment to maintaining our leadership position and continuing to drive excellence in the industry,” Mr. Tan said.

Megaworld earmarked P55 billion for its capital expenditure budget this year to develop existing and upcoming townships, residential projects, investment properties, and land acquisition.

On its hospitality business, Mr. Tan said that Megaworld Hotels and Resorts is eyeing to add 4,100 room keys by 2029.

“This will further cement our position as the largest hotel developer in the Philippines. These expansions will significantly boost our capacity to meet the growing demand in the different locations across our country,” Mr. Tan said.

Megaworld said in a separate statement that it is now 100% carbon neutral across 52 company-owned malls and office developments nationwide.

Citing data compiled in partnership with Diligent, Megaworld reported that gross carbon emissions from its operational properties accounted for about 69,000 metric tons in 2023, 98% of which came from electricity consumption (scope 2), while the rest came from fuel consumption (scope 1).

Of the total, 51% came from Megaworld-owned mall developments, while the remaining 49% came from its office properties.

Megaworld was able to offset 36,000 metric tons of carbon emissions last year. It plans to use 100% renewable energy for all company-owned office and mall properties within the next three years.

Diligent is a software-as-a-service company specializing in governance, risk, and compliance.

“In the next 10 years, the company is committing to plant 3.5 million trees across over 1,000 hectares of carbon forests in Batangas, Cavite, Tarlac, Iloilo, Palawan, and Cebu,” Megaworld’s Sustainability Head Jose Arnulfo Batac said.

Megaworld said it will tap a third-party organization to further evaluate its sustainability efforts, particularly those centered on carbon neutrality.

“We look forward to achieving carbon neutral emissions for scopes 1 and 2 by 2035 for the entire Megaworld Group. We also turn our focus on accounting for our full Scope 3 emissions through our collaboration with our environmental, social, and governance data warehouse partner, Diligent, for a more ambitious target of achieving net zero by 2050,” Mr. Batac said.

“This is our way of continuing to champion our commitment to helping build a greener and cleaner future for everyone,” he added.

For the first quarter, Megaworld recorded an 8% increase in attributable net income to P4.4 billion as consolidated revenues surged by 16% to P18.87 billion.

Megaworld shares were last traded on May 17 at P1.81 per share. — Revin Mikhael D. Ochave

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