November 14, 2025 | 12:00am
MANILA, Philippines — The real estate investment trusts (REIT) of property giants Megaworld Corp. and Ayala Land Inc. (ALI) registered strong growth from January to September due to robust operations of their respective portfolios.
MREIT Inc. delivered a 27 percent year-on-year increase in distributable income to P2.8 billion as revenues expanded by 33 percent to P4.13 billion, supported by sustained tenant demand and cost efficiency across its portfolio.
In the third quarter, the company’s distributable income jumped by 29 percent year-on-year to P935 million, fueled by the contribution of six newly acquired office properties in 2024, higher occupancy and sustained rental escalations.
“Our strong performance this quarter reflects not only the resilience of our office portfolio but also our readiness for the next wave of growth,” MREIT president and CEO Jose Arnulfo Batac said.
“With market conditions turning more favorable, we are well-positioned to pursue our long-term expansion plans and deliver sustained value to our shareholders,” Batac said.
As of end-September, MREIT’s portfolio occupancy rose to 92 percent with the successful onboarding of traditional and BPO tenants across its office towers.
The company is also anticipating regulatory approval to increase its authorized capital stock to P8 billion from P5 billion, enabling it to acquire new assets in its upcoming wave of property infusions.
For the next round, MREIT is looking at 10 office properties with a combined gross leasable area of around 198,500 square meters.
After completing the round of office infusions, MREIT said that it is also preparing to begin the acquisition of several mall assets to further diversify its portfolio, allowing investors to benefit from the strong retail performance and record-high occupancy of Megaworld Lifestyle Malls.
The planned infusion will be based on the valuation of the properties and subject to compliance with the REIT law’s minimum public float requirements.
Once approved and completed, the assets will expand MREIT’s portfolio by about 41 percent to 680,000 square meters from the current 482,000 square meters.
AREIT Inc., meanwhile, reported a net income, excluding the net fair value change in investment properties, of P7 billion in the first three quarters, a 39-percent surge year-on-year.
AREIT’s revenues climbed by 34 percent year-on-year to P9.5 billion.
The company attributed its growth during the nine-month period to contributions from its 2025 and 2024 acquisitions, alongside stable operations of its existing portfolio.
In September, AREIT secured approval from the Securities and Exchange Commission for its property-for-share swap with ALI and its subsidiaries, Accendo Commercial Corp. and Cagayan de Oro Gateway Corp.
The transaction involved the issuance of 505.89 million AREIT shares in exchange for eight prime commercial assets in Visayas and Mindanao valued at P21 billion.
AREIT said the new assets started contributing to the company’s earnings on July 1, 2025.
The additions expanded the company’s total gross leasable area to 4.3 million square meters, including 1.4 million square meters of building GLA.
AREIT’s assets under management rose to P138.9 billion, spanning a diversified portfolio of offices, retail, hotels and industrial land.