Vista Land expects another banner year

MANILA, Philippines - Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the country’s largest homebuilder, expects 2014 to be another banner year as demand for house and lot units continue to grow, a top company executive said.

In a briefing, Vista Land president and CEO Manuel Paolo Villar said the property firm will post double-digit growth in income, revenues and reservation sales this year that will be supported by higher capital expenditures.

“We will have a record year this year and also in 2015,” Villar said. Profits of the company rose 15 percent to a record P5.06 billion last year from P4.38 billion in 2012 as real estate sales climbed 23 percent to P20.02 billion.

In the first quarter, this year, the real estate unit of the Villar family said its net income improved 11 percent to P1.49 billion from P1.32 billion while reservation sales rose 10 percent to P12.94 billion and revenues climbed 12 percent to P5.44 billion.

“2014 promises to be another record year for Vista Land. We are pleased to have been able to sustain the double-digit growth achieved over the past years and should have no problem achieving our full year targets,” said Vista Land chairman Manuel B. Villar.

 â€œOur first quarter reservation sales are close to P13 billion, which confirms our reading that demand for housing all around the country continues to be very strong.” he added.

In the first quarter, Vista Land launched 13 major subdivision projects, 12 of which are in the low and affordable segment. The projects have an aggregate value of about P8 billion.

Vista Land allotted P21.6 billion for its capital expenditures in 2014, up from P17.2 billion last year.

“In addition to our expansion in the provinces, we have continued to move forward with our plans for the various commercial centers within our existing development,” said  Villar.

Vista Land is the holding company of six business units: luxury brand Brittany, upper middle income segment Crown Asia, Camella Homes, Communities Philippines, condominium builder Vista Residences and socialized housing arm Lumina Homes Inc.

The country’s largest homebuilder will launch P28 billion worth of projects this year, two-thirds of which are under middle income brand Camella Homes.

In 2013, Vista Land launched 35 projects with an estimated value of P26.1 billion, 31 of which are in the low and affordable segment. In the past 38 years, the property firm has completed more than 250,000 housing units in 31 provinces and 64 cities and municipalities around the country.