2016 seen an easy cruise for Villar’s Vista Land as 9-mo profit hits P6.4B

Villar family-led Vista Land & Lifescapes (VLL) booked an 11-percent year-on-year growth in net profit in the first nine months to P6.4 billion on higher rental income, putting the company on track to end with another “banner” year.

Rental income for the nine months of the year marked a 67-percent year-on-year increase to P3.1 billion as VLL expanded its portfolio, VLL disclosed to the Philippine Stock Exchange on Monday.

Higher rental income made up for the flat revenues from real estate development, which contributed P19 billion in revenues versus P18.5 billion in the same nine-month period last year. Consolidated revenues ended the nine-month period at P24 billion, up by 8 percent from the previous year.

“We remain bullish with the expansion plans of our newly acquired subsidiary Starmalls, Inc., which currently now has 17 commercial assets in its portfolio; and that is on top of what we had prior to the acquisition,” VLL chair Manuel Villar Jr. said in a press statement.

“Our strategies in both the commercial and residential side of our business are anchored on sound Philippine macroeconomic fundamentals, a resilient real estate industry, the favorable market environment and the sustained growth in disposable income and overseas Filipino remittances,” he added.

VLL brought to the property market P17 billion worth of projects during the period, mostly in the low and affordable segment outside the Mega Manila area. To date, the company operates in 97 cities and municipalities around the Philippines and is looking to open in at least three more new areas.

The company is also planning to build its first condominium project on the island of Boracay, which will be called Costa Vista Boracay.

“Our company is poised to have another banner year for 2016 as our additional leasable spaces are now contributing significantly to our current financial results and will continue for the rest of the year and moving forward,” VLL president and chief executive Manuel Paolo Villar said.

“We also remain prudent with our financial management as we undertook a liability management exercise during the period to replace some of our existing dollar liability with a seven-year peso denominated bilateral loan at a 5-percent interest rate,” he added.

As of end-September, VLL spent P22.7 billion out of its capital expenditure budget of P30.9 billion, mostly to construct commercial assets as well as building housing units sold to buyers.

The company ended September with total consolidated assets of P172.8 billion.