Posted on
January 03, 2013 10:09:13 PM [ BusinessWorld Online ]
THE BOARD of
property developer Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc. has cleared the sale of
all the company’s treasury shares to take advantage of perceived strong
investor demand and in a bid to boost liquidity, the Villar-led firm said in a
disclosure yesterday.
“On Jan. 3, the board of directors of Vista
Land authorized the company to sell all of its existing treasury shares
totaling 133.91 million shares to meet demand from investors and increase
liquidity of the company’s shares of stock,” the disclosure read.
Vista Land’s
management team was tasked to determine the terms and conditions of the planned
share sale.
“The board
likewise authorized the implementation of all necessary corporate and other
actions to proceed with the sale of the aforementioned treasury shares, and
further authorized and empowered management to determine and decide on the
price at which the treasury shares shall be sold,” the disclosure added.
The
Philippine Stock Exchange defines treasury shares as “shares of stock which
were previously issued and fully paid, but subsequently reacquired by the
issuing corporation by purchase, redemption, donation, or through some other
lawful means.”
Treasury
shares are not considered outstanding, are non-voting and are not included in
dividend issuances.
MORE TRADING
Ricardo B.
Tan, Jr., Vista Land chief financial officer and compliance officer, said in a
text message yesterday that the planned sale would unlock more shares for
public trading, hence, beefing up the firm’s liquidity.
“There was
significant foreign demand for these blocks of shares, and the company wanted
to add liquidity. With the treasury share sale, there will be more shares
available for trading in the open market,” Mr. Tan explained when asked to
elaborate.
This was
echoed by a market analyst.
“Selling
means more shares that can be traded by investors, hence more liquidity. Why
would they sell it? To profit,” Jose Mari B. Lacson, head of research at Campos
Lanuza & Co., Inc., said in a separate text message.
Vista Land,
founded by Senator Manuel B. Villar, Jr., has so far delivered about 200,000
units to buyers since 1977, and claims to have a presence in over 50 cities and
municipalities nationwide, according to the company’s Web site.
The firm grew
its net income by 23.76% to P3.23 billion as of September from P2.61 billion in
the same nine months last year, thanks to robust sales of the firm’s flagship,
Camella Homes.
In the same
comparative periods, revenues expanded by 22.88% to P13.21 billion from P10.75
billion, while cost and expenses accelerated by 25.13% to P9.81 billion from
P7.84 billion.
Vista Land
operates through five business units, namely: Brittany Corp.; Crown Asia;
Camella Homes; Communities Philippines, Inc.; and Vista Residences, Inc.
Last month,
Vista Land said that it expected capital expenditures this year to exceed P18
billion, higher than the P15-billion budget it set last year, amid expectations
of robust demand for real estate to be driven by consumer sentiment upbeat on
the economy’s prospects.
Vista Land
shares shed two centavos or 0.41% to close at P4.85 apiece yesterday from P4.87
last Wednesday. -- Franz Jonathan G. de la Fuente
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