Vista Land earnings hit over P11B in 2019

LISTED Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. reported on Friday that its net income reached P11.6 billion last year, a 10-percent increase from P10.5 billion in 2018.

In a disclosure, the Villar-led property developer said the strong performance of its commercial assets and the sustained contribution of its residential business enabled it to record double-digit growth in 2019.

Consolidated revenues also climbed by 7 percent to P44.4 billion in January to March from P41.5 billion year-on-year.

“We are pleased with the company’s 2019 performance, as both our leasing and residential businesses provided steady growth,” Vista Land Chairman and former Senate President Manuel Villar Jr. said in the disclosure.

Leasing income rose by 20 percent to P8.5 billion, while real estate revenues jumped by 3 percent to P32.8 billion from P31.9 billion.

The improvement in its real estate revenues was on the back of the “increase in the overall completion rate of sold inventories of its business units,” Vista Land said.

According to the company, its residential business recorded P78.5 billion in reservations sales last year and launched projects, mostly outside Metro Manila, worth an estimated P38.5 billion.

“The start of 2020 has been challenging with the occurrence of a series of unforeseeable events, especially the Covid- 19 ( coronavirus disease 2019) pandemic. Vista Land will refocus on optimizing its existing portfolio of investment properties, as well as utilize its current land bank of about 3,000 hectares,” Vista Land President and Chief Executive Officer Manuel Paolo Villar said.

“We saw that demand for affordable housing persists and homebuyers, most of which are end-users, remain committed to completing payments. Vista Land also is taking advantage of its geographic reach,” he added.

The Vista Land president said his firm is currently present in 147 cities and municipalities across the country, with over 50 percent of their revenue generated outside Metro Manila.

Vista Land looks to focus on the development of “communicities” — integrated urban developments combining lifestyle retail, prime office space, university town, health care, themed- residential developments and leisure components.

Vista Land shares decreased by 15 centavos or 4.41 percent to close at P3.25 each on Friday.