Posted on 11:00 PM, September 20, 2010 [ BusinessWorld Online ]
VILLAR-LED property firm Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. said yesterday its board had approved a management plan to explore various funding options, including a US dollar bond sale.
The company owned by the family of Senator Manuel B. Villar, Jr. told the stock exchange its board had authorized the management to decide on the final size and terms of the bond offer.
It did not specify the size and the timing of the bond issue.
Vista Land, developer of residential enclaves and condominiums, met investors earlier this month to give updates on the company’s finances and to gather feedback on its debt sale plans, banking sources said.
UBS and Morgan Stanley arranged the investor meetings for Vista Land in Asia and Europe, banking sources also said.
It will be the first time for Vista Land to tap the dollar bond market, the company told the local bourse yesterday.
“[There are] no details as of now,” Ricardo B. Tan, Jr., senior vice-president for finance of Vista Land, said in a mobile phone “text” message yesterday.
Last week, the company declared a P460-million or P0.054-per share cash dividend following a surplus from last year’s performance.
The firm wants to increase the total value of its condominium projects for sale next year to P12.5 billion from the current 17 projects worth P5.03 billion.
Vista Land operates under five brands -- Brittany that sells house-and-lot units for as much as P9 million each, Crown Asia for units worth P3.5 million to P9 million, Camella Homes for units worth P3.5 million and below, Communities Philippines that sells Camella Homes in the provinces, and condominium arm Vista Residences.
It has so far delivered about 200,000 housing units to buyers since 1977.
Sought for comment, Juan Carlos D. Garcia, investment analyst at 2Trade Asia, said: “Now that we are entering the bullish market, it is a good time to [raise] funds.”
“[The funds] will help them support expansion in the future,” he said in a phone interview.
Shares in Vista Land whose consolidated net income grew by 12% to P1.44 billion in the first half -- rose by 0.6% or P0.02 to close at P3.34 each yesterday. -- Reuters and Neil Jerome C. Morales
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