REAL estate firm PH1 World Developers (PH1WD), a unit of Megawide Construction Corp., plans to conduct an initial public offering (IPO) as early as next year to fund expansion in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces.

"Around 2025 or 2026, [the company] will be ripe already," PH1WD Chairman Edgar Saavedra said, adding that the firm is expected to be bigger than listed Megawide Construction Corp. in terms of net income."Right now, the construction [segment] is big because it usually has greater revenues, but the margins are low. But bottom line, three years from now, [PH1WD] will be bigger than construction," he added.PH1WD's earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (Ebitda) will likely reach P4 to P5 billion by 2026, which will be higher than the P2- to P3-billion Ebitda the construction segment currently generates, Saavedra continued."As for our business model, we normally do joint ventures so that it is not heavy on capital. But when [PH1WD] conducts an IPO, things will change because fundraising will be easier," he said."By 2026, we are planning to launch eight to 10 [projects], but the order book is 10 years," Saavedra said."In our inventory, we are looking at P200 billion in 10 years. We have P200 billion [worth of projects] to sell in the next 10 years."Megawide's share price was down a centavo to P3.30 on Thursday.