November 13, 2007 | 12:00am
Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the investment holding firm for most of the real estate properties of the Villar family, said yesterday its net profit nearly tripled in the first nine months of the year to P2.7 billion from P1 billion a year earlier, due to higher sales of its property projects.
At the same time, Vista Land said its board of directors approved a share buyback program worth $25 million to enhance shareholder value. Vista Land stocks closed at P5.10 each share yesterday.
Paolo Villar, Vista Land’s head of corporate planning, said the buyback program will be implemented over a period of 12 months.
“With the present implied valuation of Vista Land of roughly P9.53 per share, we believe our shares are significantly undervalued and thus makes good business sense for us to consider utilizing a portion of our available cash for a share buyback program which will likewise benefit our existing shareholders,” he said.
In a press brefing yesterday, Vista Land president and chief executive officer Benjamarie Therese Serrano said revenues reached P6.2 billion, up 38.3 percent from P4.5 billion a year earlier, mainly driven by higher contributions from C&P Homes Inc. and Communities Philippines Inc.
C&P Homes, which caters to the affordable segment of the real estate market, chalked in revenues of P1.5 billion or 61.4 percent higher than the previous level.
Communities Philippines, which offers residential properties outside Mega Manila, pumped in P1.6 billion in revenues, up 59.4 percent.
Crown Asia, which caters to the middle-income market, contributed P1.4 billion in revenues or an increase of 25.8 percent, while upscale unit Brittany Corp. registered revenues of P1.6 billion, 17.5 percent higher than the year earlier figure.
Serrano said the company also generated P3.5 billion in sales from its four sold-out condominium projects. As of end-September this year, Vista Land’s asset base amounted to P40.2 billion compared with only P29.7 billion in 2006 while its stockholders’ equity surged 273.5 percent to P30.97 billion.
Serrano said management is confident that Vista Land would sustain its profitability during the rest of the year with revenues seen reaching P8.2 billion by the end of December. Including a one-time gain from the restructuring of C&P Homes, Vista Land’s net profit is seen to amount to P3.1 billion compared with only P1.45 billion in 2006.
To ensure continued growth, Vista Land has lined up several projects and acquired more properties to beef up its landbank.
Serrano said the company has acquired 226 hectares of land during the period under review, bringing to 1,687 hectares its total landbank with a market value of P56 billion.
She added the company will soon start the development of two leisure projects and a mixed-use project in Quezon City.
