Vista Land doubles programmed borrowings to P6 B

MANILA, Philippines - The real estate arm of the Villar family is looking to raise as much as P6 billion through bank loans, double than its initial target.

Securing more funds from banks will support a record capital spending of Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. this year, a company official said.

“Vista Land will definitely be sourcing from the banks between P5-6 billion in term loans for our capital expenditures,” Vista Land chief finance officer Ricardo Tan Jr. said in an interview. It is higher than the initial indication of P3-5 billion loans.

Tan said Vista Land, the country’s largest house and lot builder and the most geographically dispersed property firm, is locking on to low interest rates for the loans that would have at least five years of maturity.

Philippine companies have been tapping funds from different channels like bonds and banks amid low interest rates and high liquidity.

“That will basically take care most of our requirements for this year,” Tan said.

The listed real estate firm allotted P18.6 billion in capital expenditures this year for its aggressive expansion that would involve the development of more residential condominium buildings and commercial projects as well as launch of more projects in new markets.

The property firm led by former Sen. Manuel B. Villar earlier ruled out an equity placement given low valuation for its shares.

For 2013, Vista Land is launching P30 billion worth of projects offering 15,000 residential units, up from P25 billion and 12,000 units last year.

Vista Land targets to grow its reservation sales by 15-20 percent to as much as P50 billion this year from P40.09 billion in 2012. In the first three months of the year, reservation sales rose 16 percent to P11.76 billion.

In the first quarter, Vista Land’s earnings jumped 29 percent to P1.34 billion while revenues climbed 21 percent to P4.86 billion from a year ago.

Vista Land is the holding company of five business units: Brittany, Crown Asia, Camella Homes, Communities Philippines and Vista Residences. In the past 35 years, Vista Land has completed more than 250,000 housing units. It has a strategically located landbank of almost 2,000 hectares nationwide.