June 25, 2019 | 12:08 am [ bworldonline.com ]
STARMALL EDSA-SHAW BRANCH — WWW.STARMALLS.COM.PH
VILLAR-LED Starmalls, Inc. is changing its name to
Vistamalls, Inc., aligning itself with parent Vista Land & Lifescapes,
Inc.’s (VLL) mall expansion.
In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, the mall
operator said its shareholders have approved its plan to change the company’s
name to Vistamalls, Inc.
The company will file the amendment with the Securities and
Exchange Commission for final approval.
Incorporated in 1969, Starmalls was folded into the Villar
group in 2015 when VLL agreed to buy 88.34% of the company’s shares for about
P33.54 billion.
The listed firm operates malls in San Jose del Monte,
Bulacan; Imus, Cavite; Balanga, Bataan; Taguig, Alabang, and along EDSA-Shaw
Boulevard, among others. VLL President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel Paolo
A. Villar earlier said that they have plans to renovate various Starmalls
branches in the following years.
At the parent level, VLL is targeting to have 60 malls by
2020. It ended 2018 with a total of 31 malls, 52 commercial centers, and seven
office buildings, covering a total of 1.4 million square meters in gross floor
area.
The company also said it has commercial centers that are
currently under construction in Taguig City, Las Piñas City, Pampanga, Cavite,
Davao, Iloilo, Naga, Cagayan de Oro, and Iloilo, which are scheduled to be
completed by 2020.
Starmalls booked a net income attributable to the parent of
P651 million in the first quarter of 2019, 13% higher year on year. This came
after a 15% increase in revenues to P1.77 billion in the same period.
The company attributed the positive performance to higher
occupancy and rental rates of its existing malls, as well as the additional
gross floor area of new commercial assets at the time.
Shares in Starmalls jumped 5.25% or 33 centavos to close at
P6.62 each at the stock exchange on Monday. — Arra B. Francia
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