Posted on April 05, 2011 09:24:42 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
VILLAR-LED developer Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. expects to post hit record revenues of as much as P13 billion this year after already growing by nearly a fifth in 2010, officials yesterday said.
Robust demand for housing, which the company is preparing to serve mostly through its low-cost brand, should cause revenues to increase by 10%-15% to P12.47 billion-P13.03 billion for 2011, they said.
This comes on top of the 18.11% hike in revenues to P11.339 billion in 2010 which in turn caused net income to jump by 31% to P3.013 billion.
“We came in with over P3 billion [in profits]. We exceeded our financial guidance,” Ricardo B. Tan, Jr., senior vice-president for Finance of Vista Land, said in a briefing yesterday.
The 2010 targets had been P2.8 billion in profits and projected revenues of P11 billion.
Last year’s net income growth reversed the 18% earnings decline to P2.3 billion in 2009 from P2.83 billion in 2008.
Expenses climbed by 29% to P2.69 billion last year but gross margins rose to 50.1% last year from 48% in 2009.
“Our strategy was to continue to focus on the affordable and low-end market segments, resulting in particularly strong growth from Camella Homes and Communities Philippines,” Mr. Tan said.
“We applied for Board of Investments incentives for our Camella projects. Majority of our projects were eligible for the tax perks,” Mr. Tan said.
Vista Land operates under five brands -- Brittany that sells house-and-lot units for as much as P9 million each; Crown Asia with units for P3.5 million to P9 million; Camella Homes with units for P3.5 million and below; Communities Philippines that sells Camella Homes in the provinces; and the condominium arm Vista Residences.
“We were able to sell some of our old inventory and we increased prices gradually,” Mr. Tan added.
New projects serving robust market demand will allow the company to again boost revenues this year, officials said.
“Demand for housing continues to be robust and we are also expecting strong growth in sales given our planned project launches countrywide,” Mr. Tan said.
“We launched 10,000 units last year. This year, maybe there will be an increase of 20% from last year,” Benjamarie Therese N. Serrano, president and chief executive of Vista Land, said.
Shares in Vista Land gained five centavos to close at P2.90 apiece yesterday. -- Neil Jerome C. Morales
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