By Jenniffer B. Austria

The Philippine Stock Exchange approved the P5.1-billion stock rights offering of condominium builder Megaworld Corp.

Megaworld said in a filing with the PSE that it would offer 5.12 billion common shares to current shareholders at an offer price of P1 per share. Eligible shareholders as of a record date will be allowed to buy one for every 4 shares owned.

Megaworld is also offering 4 warrant shares to each eligible shareholder for every five rights shares subscribed at no cost to the stockholder.

The company said it was finalizing other terms and conditions of the offering, including the record date for stockholders, the offering period and the listing date.

Megaworld said it would use the proceeds from the stock rights offering to partially finance its P30-billion capital expenditures programmed over the next three years.

The company last month issued P1.4 billion worth of corporate notes to 19 institutional investors to finance its capital expenditures. The notes are maturing in seven years.

Megaworld said it would finance the rest of the P30-billion expenditures from internal funds.

?The new fund-raising program will further enhance its strong capital base, ensuring that it can ride out the global financial turmoil and maintain its market leadership while capitalizing on new opportunities along the way,? Megaworld said in an earlier statement.

Megaworld said it would spend P8.9 billion this year for the development of various real estate projects.

The company expects to consolidated revenues of P17.5 billion in 2009, including P12.5 billion in rental sales and P2 billion in rental income. It sees net income hitting P4 billion this year.

The property firm reported a net income of P2.86 billion in the first three quarters of 2008. It expects full-year income in 2008 to reach P3.8 billion.

Megaworld has conducted four capital-raising activities over the last three years.

In 2006, Megaworld raised $100 million from an offshore offering of five-year bonds and another P5 billion through a follow-on offering.

The following year it raised about P10.8 billion from its stock rights offering to finance the construction of township developments, namely Manhattan Gardens in Cubao, Eastwood City in Quezon City, McKinley Hill in Fort Bonifacio, Cityplace in Manila, Newport City in Pasay and Forbes Towncenter in Taguig City.