DOUBLEDRAGON Properties Corp. is anchoring its next stage of growth on the hospitality and industrial sectors, after it completes its target of having 1.2 million square meters (sq.m.) in gross floor area involving mall, office, hotel and industrial space by next year.

“We still have a lot of growth beyond 2020 which we see coming from the hospitality and industrial sectors,” DoubleDragon Chief Investment Officer Marianna H. Yulo told reporters on the sidelines of the 3rd Asia Pacific REIT Investment Summit in Parañaque City last week.

Ms. Yulo said this in line with the company’s preparations for a real estate investment trust (REIT) offering, noting that the capital they raise from the activity can be used to finance their expansion moving forward. “We’ll redeploy them (the funds) in the Philippines to further expand because I don’t think we’ve revealed yet our plans beyond 2020.”

The listed property developer is waiting for the release of final REIT guidelines, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) expected to lower the minimum public ownership requirement to 33% from 40-67% currently.

Ms. Yulo said the company is looking to place its more mature assets into a REIT, such as malls, office properties or a combination of both.

“We’re about 93% leased out on average for all our retail and we’re actually 100% leased out for all our office buildings as well…” Ms. Yulo explained.

“We don’t really intend to sell majority of our assets. We just want to show the investing public what the real value of the assets are in terms of the cash flows that we receive.”

SEC Commissioner Ephyro Luis B. Amatong had said investors should see the first REIT offer within the year, even as he had noted that an MPO requirement of up to 67% may still be in force.

Ayala Land, Inc. has already announced its intention to conduct a REIT offer under existing rules within the year, while other firms such as Megaworld Corp. and Robinsons Land Corp. said they will wait for the SEC to lower the MPO requirement.

DoubleDragon is scheduled to finish the year with 800,000 sq.m. of leasable space, on track to meet its goal of having 1.2 million sq.m. by 2020. This will come from a combination of 100 CityMalls, 5,000 hotel rooms carrying brands Hotel101 and JinJiang Inn, eight industrial projects under Central Hub, and office projects mostly in Pasay City.

It grew net income attributable to the parent by 46% to P767.30 million last quarter, as gross revenues increased by 33% to P2.44 billion in that period. — Arra B. Francia

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