MEGAWORLD Corp. grew its attributable profit by 17% in 2018, lifted by the double-digit expansion of its residential, office, mall, and hotel businesses.

The property company of tycoon Andrew L. Tan reported a net income attributable to the parent of P15.2 billion last year, higher than the P13 billion it posted in 2017. This came on the back of a 15% uptick in revenues to P57.4 billion, excluding a one-time gain of P113 million.

The residential segment contributed bulk of Megaworld’s revenues at P38 billion, 11.5% higher year on year. This was supported by the launch of 25 projects valued at about P106 billion, while also recording P135 billion in sales reservations for the period.

“For our residential properties, we continue to see strong take-up especially in our mature townships, and there is already a consistently growing interest in our newly-launched townships,” Megaworld Senior Vice-President and Chief Strategy Officer Kevin Andrew L. Tan said in a statement.

Megaworld’s rental business, composed of office and commercial leasing, improved its contribution to revenues by 21% to P14.3 billion. This accounted for 25% of the company’s topline.

The listed firm has been aggressively expanding its commercial projects, with the opening of the Festive Walk Mall in Iloilo Business Park, as well as the 25-storey Philippine Global Service Center. The latter is being developed for JPMorgan Chase Bank, which signed a long-term lease on the 70,000-square meter office.

“We have already secured multiple pre-lease deals for our office buildings as well that are in the pipeline until next year. Same goes to our mall and commercial spaces that are set to open in our various townships,” Mr. Tan said.

For the hotel business, revenues climbed 14% to P1.5 billion. It ended the year with seven hotels, following the opening of the 684-room Savoy Hotel Manila in Pasay City and the 126-room Twin Lakes Hotel in Batangas.

Megaworld recently launched its 24^th township in the country called Highland City in Cainta, Rizal, which it will develop alongside subsidiary Empire East Land Holdings, Inc. The company will be spending P20 billion over the next 10 years for the township.

“Perhaps, as we build these townships, people saw the advantage of living where they work, and living where everything is just within reach. This model makes every aspect of our business viable and expandable, and we continue to spot for opportunities where we can further grow and innovate our offerings,” Mr. Tan said.

Megaworld is part of Alliance Global Group, Inc., whose core interests also include gaming, liquor, quick service restaurants, and infrastructure development. — Arra B. Francia

THE Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is currently drafting guidelines on the issuance of social bonds aligned with regional standards, as it looks to offer new ways of financing social projects.

In a notice posted on its website, the country’s corporate regulator said the guidelines will cover the issuance of social bonds as per the ASEAN Social Bonds Standards developed by the ASEAN Capital Markets Forum (ACMF).

This will complement the SEC’s issuance of guidelines for ASEAN Green Bond Standards last year, which now serve as an alternative funding route for companies with green or environmentally friendly projects, based on standards set by the commission.

Under the proposed guidelines, a company looking to issue social bonds must be from an ASEAN-member country. A non-ASEAN issuer may also register provided that the project where the funds will be used for is located in any ASEAN country.

ASEAN is comprised of the Philippines, Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam.

Proceeds of the offering must go to projects that provide clear social benefits to be assessed and quantified, where feasible, by the issuer.

Article 2, Section 9 of the proposed guidelines list down examples of the eligible social projects, which “directly aim to help address or mitigate a specific social issue and/or seek to achieve positive social outcomes especially but not exclusively for a target population.”

The list includes projects that promote affordable basic infrastructure such as clean drinking water, sewers, and sanitation; access to essential services such as health, education, and health care; affordable housing, employment generation, food security, and socioeconomic advancement, among others.

Projects that pose a negative social impact related to alcohol, tobacco, and weaponry are not allowed.

The projects must have specific target populations, which may include those living below the poverty line, marginalized populations, vulnerable groups including those as a result of natural disasters, the unemployed, people with disabilities, migrants or displaced persons, the undereducated, and underserved, among others.

The SEC proposed that issuers be the one to establish the process for project evaluation and selection before the issuance of the social bonds. The issuer must also disclose the process for project evaluation and selection process to investors.

The draft guidelines state that issuers must also continuously report the use of the funds from the social bonds.

“It is recommended that issuers use qualitative performance indicators, and where feasible, quantitative performance measures and disclose of the key underlying methodology and/or assumptions used in the quantitative determination,” according to the draft.

Quantitative performance measures may include the number of beneficiaries of the project, the reduction in unemployment, the increase in number of public transport users, increase in literacy rate, and increase in life expectancy.

These must be presented in an annual report, as well as an external review of the annual report, through the issuer’s website throughout the tenure of the social bonds.

The SEC is asking banks, investment houses, the investment public, and other interested parties to submit their comments on the proposed guidelines until April 24. — Arra B. Francia