Vista Land profit hits P3.8B

FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the country’s biggest horizontal housing developer, said net income during the nine months through September rose 17 percent to P3.79 billion.

The company said in a stock exchange filing that real estate sales during the period hit P14.83 billion, up 22 percent. Capital spending for the full year was projected at P18.6 billion, of which P12.6 billion has already been spent.

The gains during the period were attributed to the increase in the overall completion rate of sold inventories of its business units, particularly that of Communities Philippines, Vista Residences and Crown Asia, the company said.

“The strategies in the housing market that we have adopted will allow us to meet our full-year targets,” Vista Land CEO Manuel Paolo Villar said in a statement.

Manuel Villar Jr., Vista Land founder and chair, said the group was averaging P12 billion in quarterly sales this year, putting the company on track to hit P46 billion in 2013.

During the nine-month period, Vista Land launched 27 projects, mainly in the low and affordable segments, with a sales value of about P19.4 billion, the company noted in its briefing materials.

“Most of our sales have been coming from our core product which is housing, both in Metro Manila and in the provincial areas. We fully expect to see continued strong sales performance in the coming years as demand for house and lots, particularly in the mid- to low-end segment of the market, continues to be extremely robust,” the company founder noted.

The company launched 18 subdivision projects outside Metro Manila in areas like Capiz, Aklan, Koronadal and Bataan.

Vista Land is the holding company of five business units—Brittany, Crown Asia, Camella Homes, Communities Philippines and Vista Residences. It had a land bank of 1,930 hectares as of end-September, of which 84 percent is owned by the company and the remainder via joint-venture deals.