Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc., one of the country’s leading integrated property developers and the largest homebuilder, continues to recover from the impact of the pandemic as sales continued to improve during the first quarter of the year.
In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Vista Land said the uptrend growth of its reservation sales for the first quarter of 2021 since June of last year was sustained.
Reservations sales amounted to P16.1 billion in the first three months of 2021, a 4 percent increase from the first quarter last year and 14 percent higher than the fourth quarter of 2020.
The firm also disclosed that it is looking at doing a Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) for its office space as a start.
“We continue to navigate through these still challenging times brought about by the pandemic but with a more optimistic outlook this year especially as the vaccination rollout ramps up,” said Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr.
He noted that, “indicators such as Overseas Filipinos (OF) demand remains to be resilient with an upward trend as the host countries of our OFs are on their way to achieving herd immunity.”
“The projected growth of OF remittances this year also bodes well for the Company since approximately 55 percent to 60 percent of our sales are OF sales,” Villar added.
“Coming from 2020, our preliminary first quarter headline numbers this year are quite encouraging. The Company expects to report total revenues of approximately P8.7 billion, representing a decrease of approximately 12 percent from the same period last year,” said Vista Land President & CEO Manuel Paolo A. Villar.
This consists of real estate revenues of P6.3 billion, representing a decrease of about 13 percent year on year, and leasing income estimated at P2.0 billion representing a decrease of 9 percent from same period last year.
“Our consolidated net income was approximately P2.1 billion representing a decrease of approximately 14 percent year on year primarily due to higher interest expense, while EBITDA was at approximately P3.9 billion representing a decrease of approximately 7 percent year on year,” he added.
Villar said “The Company will continue with its digital innovations to efficiently and to safely serve its clients and customers.”
The Company mentioned that it will maintain its stance on minimal land acquisition thereby maximizing its existing land bank and will be conservative in terms of its leasing space expansion program.
However, the Company has the capacity to fast track construction and to launch projects when opportunities present themselves.Vista Land will also continue to be proactive in its liability management policy.