Empire East plans buyback of P1-B worth of shares

Empire East Land Holdings Inc., the low- to middle-income housing subsidiary of upscale real estate developer Megaworld Corp., will buy back up to P1-billion worth of its shares, the company told the Philippine Stock Exchange.

The buyback program is aimed at creating and enhancing shareholder value since current market prices of Empire East shares "do not reflect their true value," the firm explained.

It added that the buy-back program will be implemented over a two-year period.

Empire East shares closed five centavos higher yesterday at 57 centavos each from 52 centavos Wednesday.

The company’s board earlier approved the full redemption of P950 million worth of its Series C preferred shares valued at P1 per share.

Empire East is a pioneer in self-contained township projects, located in Metro Manila and its suburbs, which cater to a middle-income market. These include its flagship project Laguna BelAir in Sta. Rosa, Laguna; Cambridge Village in the Pasig-Cainta area; and California Garden Square in Mandaluyong City.

Reservation sales for the company’s various ongoing projects reached P3.5 billion in 2005 and is projected to increase further this year.

Empire East’s largest revenue earner is Laguna BelAir, whose fast-selling house-and-lot and lot packages have made it the country’s most successful township. Laguna BelAir’s Phases 1 and 2 have only a few units left, while Phases 3 and 4 are almost sold out.

Aggressive marketing activities have also driven sales of Cambridge Village and California Garden Square. Cambridge Village is a 7.4-hectare community of loft- and flat-type homes while California Garden Square comprises 25 medium-rise residential-and-commercial buildings in eight clusters.

Among the company’s completed projects include Greenhills Garden Square in the Greenhills-Quezon City area, and The Xavier Hills in the New Manila-San Juan area.