Posted on February 28, 2016
08:26:00 PM
By Krista A. M.
Montealegre, Senior Reporter [ businessworld.com ]
VISTA LAND &
Lifescapes, Inc. (Vista Land) is increasing its footprint to over 100 cities
and municipalities this year, although the country’s largest homebuilder is
keeping a close eye on the troubles in the Middle East that may possibly affect
sales to overseas Filipinos.
MANUEL PAOLO A. VILLAR --
BW FILE PHOTO
Vista Land President and
Chief Executive Officer Manuel Paolo A. Villar said in an interview last week
the developer is “doing more launches” as part of its growth strategy despite
the challenges in the real estate industry.
“In bad times and good
times, we will be expanding in the provinces. Definitely we’re not going to
stop expanding in the provinces this year. We are going to be, from where we
are right now, to about 100 cities and municipalities by the end of the year,”
Mr. Villar said.
Vista Land, owned by
billionaire Manuel B. Villar, Jr. said in a regulatory filing in September it
has established presence in 92 cities and municipalities across 35 provinces.
Mr. Villar cited the slight
oversupply in the vertical segment of the market and the repatriation of
overseas Filipino workers from the Middle East as the major concerns in the
industry.
“History points to it not
being bad as some people anticipated but you never can tell so its something we
should be looking out for,” Mr. Villar said. Vista Land gets bulk or 55%-60% of
its sales from overseas Filipinos.
There have been worries the
escalating tensions in the Middle East would adversely impact Filipino workers
and cause a corresponding drop in remittances.
Money sent home by overseas
Filipino workers (OFWs) reached $25.767 billion for the entire 2015, reflecting
an increment that breached a downward-revised 4% full-year target and 4.6% more
than 2014’s $24.628 billion. A sizeable chunk of remittances came from OFWs
based in the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.
Should the situation in the
Middle East worsen, Mr. Villar said the strengthening US economy may offset its
impact on the residential industry.
Vista Land expects its
earnings this year to get a boost from the consolidation of Starmalls, Inc. to
its books after completing the acquisition of 88.25% of the mall and office
developer.
“By the end of 2016, we’re
expecting Starmalls to have a very rapid growth. We will have a growth surge in
2016. There will be a significant impact from Starmalls,” Mr. Villar said.
The merger of Vista Land
and Starmalls will accelerate the transformation of the former from a purely
residential developer into the country’s fourth biggest integrated property
developer.
Vista Land grew its
nine-month earnings by 18% to P5 billion from P4.25 billion on higher
double-digit growth in revenues from its core housing projects. Real estate
revenues jumped 13% to P16.7 billion in the January to September period.
Shares in Vista Land were
unchanged at P4.40 each.
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