BY ALBERT CASTRO
[ Malaya.com.ph ] August 13,2 010
Listed real estate developer Vista Land & Lifescape Inc. is eyeing over a billion pesos in new borrowings in anticipation of a pickup in the real estate industry.
The company is in "advanced stage of discussions" with lenders for the facility, the initial take out of which is expected in the third quarter, Vista Land vice president for finance Ricardo Tan said.
He said the company has reduced total liabilities for the year to P17.62 billion from P19.25 billion in end-2009, of which P96 million is in the form of assumed loans of originally listed unit Camella Homes.
For the first half of the year, Vista Land reported a net income of P1.32 billion, from P1.03 billion the previous year. Debt servicing for remaining obligations has reduced its recognized profit, compared to the core income of P1.44 billion, up from P1.29 billion the previous year.
Revenues stood at P5.5 billion, up from P4.9 billion last year.
Tan said the company is on track to meet its profit target of P2.7 billion to P2.8 billion. Revenue target is at P11 billion.
Vista Land said reservation sales for the first half of the year reached P10.2 billion, compared to P7.9 billion last year. This "confirms that the property sector has emerged from the crisis and is now on an upswing," Tan said.
Vista Land chief finance officer Paolo Villar said they expect the continued recovery of the industry, simultaneous with the improvement in the global economy which bodes well for overseas Filipino workers. About 60 percent of company sales are generated from OFWs.
Vista Land president Jing Serrano said OFW interest is focused on the company’s low-end products under the Camella brand.
About 60 percent of the company’s sales are also contributed by Camella.
For the first six months, the company launched 19 projects with a total sales value of P12 billion, with 12 of them under the Camella brand.
The company has allocated P10.2 billion capex for the year.
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