Wednesday, August 13, 2008 [ philstar.com ]
Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the holding firm for the majority of the real estate assets of the family of Senate President Manuel Villar, has so far remained unscathed by a slowing economy as it managed to post an impressive 73.2 percent growth in its first semester net profit this year, largely driven by the robust performances of its low-cost housing units.
In a press briefing yesterday, Vista Land chief information officer Ricardo Tan Jr. said the group’s consolidated core net income which excludes foreign exchange losses and gains, reached P1.61 billion as against P930 million last year. Revenues from real estate sales grew 28.2 percent to P5.27 billion as its housing products continue to attract overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
OFW sales accounted for slightly less than 60 percent of Vista Land’s total sales on strong demand from those deployed in the Middle East and Europe.
Vista Land’s low-cost housing subsidiaries Camella Homes and Communities Philippines Inc. posted strong growth in sales, rising by 58 percent and 55 percent, respectively. Crown Asia, which caters to the middle-cost sector, registered a seven percent increase in sales.
Sales at its high-end residential unit Brittany Corp., however, fell 11 percent, reflecting the softening demand for this market amid a difficult business environment.
The group sold a total of 2,410 units in the six months ending June this year, up 26.64 percent from 1,903 units in the same period a year earlier.
Manuel Paolo Villar, chief financial officer of Vista Land, said demand for the group’s projects has been “quite good” despite the impact of inflation, which climbed to a near 17-year high of 12.2 percent in July amid a rise in food and fuel prices.
Vista Land has already raised prices of its house and lot units by 10-12 percent to mitigate the effects of rising costs of construction materials and oil.
From P821 million last year, operating expenses jumped 29 percent to P1.06 billion. Interest expense likewise increased 31 percent to P503 million.
According to Villar, the company’s balance sheet remains healthy and strong with total consolidated assets reaching P46.94 billion as of end-June this year from P44.42 billion at year-end 2007. Stockholders’ equity slightly increased to P32.1 billion from P31.27 billion.
Tan added the company is planning to raise P5 billion through the debt market in the first half this year.
Given the strong showing of its subsidiaries and stable demand for housing, he said Vista Land is confident it would meet its 2008 net income and sales targets of roughly P3 billion and P10 billion, respectively.
During the period under review, the company has launched a total of 21 new projects with an estimated sales value of P14 billion. For the rest of the year, Vista Land will launch 19 more new projects which are expected to generate P26 billion in sales.
As of end-June this year, Vista Land had cash of P6.11 billion while its liabilities rose to P14.83 billion.
Tan said the company has already spent P5.1 billion out of the programmed P10.5 billion capital budget, which will be sourced from a combination of internally-generated cash and borrowings.
He said the group will continue to expand its presence outside Metro Manila to include at least 20 cities and municipalities by end-2008. Vista Land already has presence in 15 provincial locations nationwide including Pangasinan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Batangas, Iloilo, Cebu, Leyte, Davao and Cagayan De Oro.
Vista Land currently has a landbank of 1,743.6 hectares, 82 percent of which is located in the mega-Manila area.
Last year, Vista Land reported a net income of P3.47 billion or more than double the P1.46 billion recorded in 2006 on higher sales across all its subsidiaries.
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