Vista Land income up by 10 percent to P7.7 billion

MANILA, Philippines — Villar-led property developer Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. reported a core net income of P7.7 billion last year, up by 10 percent.

This, as the company launched P40 billion worth of projects last year compared to 2021, reflecting the company’s optimism, its chairman, former senator Manuel Villar Jr., said.

“We remain bullish with the industry for this year, especially with the level of our project launches last year. We have a pipeline of projects and we are slated to launch more projects this year as buyer’s confidence is back,” said Villar.

The company raked in consolidated revenue of P29.8 billion last year, almost the same as the P29.6 billion in 2021.

Gross profit amounted to P7.2 billion while EBITDA posted a six percent increase to P16.7 billion.

Villar said the company continues to benefit from strong demand from overseas Filipinos, with remittances expected to grow by four percent this year.

“We have seen sustained growth in overseas Filipino (OF) remittance, which is projected to grow by four percent this year. Demand from OF remained strong, which resulted in the 12 percent growth in our reservation sales of P65.5 billion in 2022,” Villar said.

Villar said the company would continue with its shift to upscale vertical and commercial projects in its existing developments.

“To date, we have launched 11 Vista Estate projects in 2022, but this is just the beginning, we will be announcing more Vista Estate projects in the coming months.

“Our aim is to maximize our existing land to its best use,” Villar said.

Vista Estates is Vista Land’s version of integrated development of horizontal and vertical residences, commercial spaces, office components and lifestyle options.

Manuel Paolo Villar, president and CEO of Vista Land, said the leasing business delivered in 2022 with a growth momentum given the return to “normalcy” and the so-called revenge spending.

The company has over 1.6 million square meters of gross floor area of commercial developments consisting of 45 malls, 56 commercial centers and seven office buildings.

“For our residential business, we have been aggressively launching vertical developments as we are maximizing the use of our prime land, which have increased in value over the years,” he said.

Capital expenditure for 2022 was at P22.5 billion, mainly for construction and land development.

As of end-2022, the company has a land bank size of 2,902 hectares, which is typically eight to nine years of development.