Tuesday, November 13, 2007 Vista Land bares P2.7 billion income
HOME builder Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc. on Monday reported a consolidated net income of P2.7 billion in the first nine months of 2007.
In a press briefing, Benjamarie Therese Serrano, president and chief executive officer of Vista Land, said the company’s income jumped by 166.7 percent from the P1 billion it posted in 2006 during the same period.
“The increase in real estate sales for the period is attributable to the significant contributions of all our business units led by the C&P Homes and
Communities Philippines,” Serrano said.
From January to September 2007, the company recorded a P6.2 billion in revenue from real estate sales up by 38.3 percent as against the P4.5 billion in 2006 for the same period.
C&P Homes which caters to the affordable market recorded P1.5 billion in revenue from January to September 2007 or an increase of 61.4 percent from Communities Philippines which offers residential properties outside of Metro Manila realized a P1.6 billion income, up by 59.4 percent as compared to last year.
For Crown Asia, the middle-class segment, income grew by 25.8 percent to P1.4 billion and high end Brittany Corp., posted 17.5 percent growth or P1.6 billion revenues.
As of end September, the total combined assets of Vista Land was P40.2 billion, a significant climb from the P29.7 billion recorded in 2006.
Cash equivalents stood at 7.9 billion higher than the 1.4 billion posted in 2006.
The company’s stockholders’ equity also rose to P30.967 billion or 273.5 percent growth ending the third quarter as against the P8.3 billion reported as of end 2006.
“This is due largely to the issuance of stocks as part of the follow-on offering last July 2007, the restructuring of our floating-rate notes and to the higher net profit we realized for the period,” added Serrano.
Also, the company allocated a US$25 million funding for the buy back of its shares of the stock (of the firm) over the next 12 months.
“With the present implied valuation of VLL of roughly P9.53 per share, we believe our shares are significantly undervalued and it thus makes good business sense for us to consider utilizing a portion of our available cash for a share buy back program which will likewise benefit our existing shareholders,” noted Paolo Villar, head of corporate planning of Vista Land.
At present, Vista Land has a prime land bank of 1,687 hectares valued at P56 billion (in market value) with 80 percent located in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, Serrano said given the companies good performance, they are confident of sustaining its income in 2008.
In terms of real estate sales, Serrano said they are looking at hitting their P10.6 billion target.
According to Serrano, overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) are the main driver of their growth since more than half or 60 percent of their clients are Filipinos working abroad.
“What we see here is growing sales from OFWs,” Serrano said.
She noted that for their Camella projects, OFWs from Asia and the Middle East are their main clients while for the Crown Asia projects, professional OFWs from Europe and the Middle East.
For the high-end Brittany projects, Serrano said migrants and professionals from the US and Europe are majority of their buyers.
Similarly, Serrano said the company has allocated a P15 billion funding for their new projects lined up for 2008.
Among these projects include the acquisition of a three-hectare property in Quezon City, development of leisure place in Boracay and in Cebu, construction of a high rise condominium in Salcedo and development of two new projects for Communities Philippines in Bulacan and in Naga. (MSN/Sunnex)
