Villar firms posted wins, losses in rocky first half

Billionaire Manuel Villar Jr. saw mixed results in the first half of the year as his property businesses turned more profitable while retail companies slowed significantly despite heightened economic activity.

His flagship real estate firm, Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., recorded an 11-percent net income increase to P4.3 billion from January to June this year. This was pushed higher by a 35-percent jump in real estate revenues to P4.9 billion.

Vista Land launched in the second quarter alone five projects, valued at P11 billion.

Demand from OFWs

“We remain optimistic with the industry for the rest of the year, especially with an economic backdrop that I consider on a rebound given strong [gross domestic product] growth numbers so far,” Villar said in a statement.

“Demand from [overseas Filipinos] remained strong, which is a factor in the 8-percent growth in our reservation sales of P32 billion for [the first half],” he added.

The developer’s newly listed real estate investment trust arm, VistaREIT Inc., booked a net income of P802.7 million with the injection of 10 community malls and office buildings. Rental revenues at the end of June reached P934 million.

“Footfall has been improving and our system-wide occupancy as of June 30 stood at 97 percent. We remain optimistic for the remainder of the year as the economy continues to open up and businesses are now able to navigate through this pandemic,” said Paolo Villar, president of VistaREIT.

Retail arm AllHome Corp. saw profits fall over 65 percent to P222.1 million as sales shed nearly 7 percent to P6.26 billion, its quarterly report showed.

Weak sales

The company cited “lost sales” from three Alabang stores after the outlets were severely damaged by a fire but also from “weakened sales in the hard categories,” referring to construction materials and hardware.

Nevertheless, the company added five locations in the first half, which was in line with its goal to reach 100 stores by 2026.

“Despite prevailing circumstances, our confidence in our capability to implement AllHome’s expansion strategy remains undeterred. To date, AllHome has already added five new locations in the first half of 2022 alone, with the highlight being our newest large format store in Davao,” AllHome president and CEO Benjamin Therese Serrano said in a separate statement.

The fire in Alabang also contributed to AllDay Marts Inc.’s profit plunge of 93.5 percent to P11.6 million in the first half. Sales during the period rose 2.2 percent to P4.6 billion.

“In light of the challenges and opportunities from the start of 2022 to date, AllDay’s [first half] 2022 performance reflects the level of consistency and potential that can be expected from our uniquely differentiated supermarket concept,” company president Frances Rosalie Coloma said in a separate statement.