By James A. Loyola
Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc., one of the country’s leading integrated developers and the largest homebuilder, expects to sustain its double-digit growth rate this year after reporting record figures for 2018.
Manuel Paolo Villar
In a press briefing, Vista Land President & CEO Manuel Paolo Villar said net income rose 16 percent to a record P10.53 billion last year from P9.06 billion in 2017.
He said earnings growth was “driven by the better than expected growth of its residential business and the sustained contribution of its commercial assets.”
Consolidated revenues grew 15 percent to P41.5 billion from P36.0 billion. Revenues from real estate amounted to 31.9 billion, up 15 percent, while leasing income likewise posted a 15 percent increase to P6.9 billion.
“We are very pleased to report that 2018 is another record year for the Company. We saw a marked improvement in our reservation sales, which grew 16 percent to P75 billion,” said Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar Jr.
He added that, “we have successfully implemented the expansion program of our leasing business ending 2018 with 1.4 million square meters of gross floor area (GFA).”
Villar said Vista Land continues to deliver record performance, fueled by the strong performance of its core housing business in addition to its growing commercial assets.
“We remain optimistic for the industry given the robust demand in our residential business as well as the continued growth of our leasing propelled by the steady growth in Filipinos’ disposable income, Overseas Filipino remittances, and the infrastructure development around the country especially in areas outside Metro Manila, where we have a competitive edge given our presence in so many areas of the country,” he noted.
The younger Villar said they will be launching more residential projects this year, amounting to a market value of P60 billion from P51.7 billion in 2018.
However, Villar said capital expenditures this year may be lower than the P45 billion spent in 2018 because Vista Land expects less construction of commercial spaces which are more capital intensive.
“We are confident about the Company’s prospects for the coming year as we have delivered strong residential sales in 2018 and have a significant leasing portfolio now accounting for about a quarter of our net income.”