Saturday, May 31, 2009 | MANILA, PHILIPPINES [ BusinessWorld Online ]
BY DON GIL. K. CARREON, Reporter
Subsidiaries of property holding firm Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. have set up a new company to handle the group’s sales and marketing efforts for "vertical" developments.
In a telephone interview on Friday, Vista Land Chief Information Officer Ricardo B. Tan, Jr. said the company, named Vista Towers, Inc., was set up to boost the promotion of vertical projects.
"It makes sense strategically... These are condo developments and there is a difference [in promoting these] compared to horizontal projects," he said.
Vista Towers’s authorized capital is only P1 million, bought by Vista Land units Crown Asia Properties, Inc., Brittany Corp., Camella Homes, Polar Mines Realty Ventures, Inc., and several company executives, documents from the Securities and Exchange Commission showed.
In 2007, the property group established by Senator Manuel B. Villar, Jr. started its first condominium developments, expanding its portfolio from houses and lots.
Vertical projects include the 30-floor Mosaic condominium in the Makati business district, the three-tower Laureano di Trevi condominium on Pasong Tamo, and the 42-storey Avant at Bonifacio Global City in Taguig. It also has mid-rise developments in Bonifacio Global City, Makati and Muntinlupa.
Mr. Tan said Vista Land’s condominium projects would still be built under the company’s brands, but the marketing and sales efforts would be transferred to Vista Towers.
"We have some good brands, but anything vertical would be handled by Vista towers," he said.
The Vista Land executive, however, said the company’s strategy has not changed. "If the market gets better in vertical we may launch more projects. But we are not shifting strategies ... We are a housing developer and will always be a housing developer," he said.
Vista Land’s profits declined by almost a fifth to P630 million in the first quarter, while revenues declined by 6% to P2.45 billion.
Shares in Vista Land closed P0.02 higher to P1.74 apiece on Friday.
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