Vista Land posts P6.4 B profit despite pandemic

Vista Land & Lifescapes, Inc., one of the country’s leading integrated property developers and the largest homebuilder, reported a 45 percent decline in consolidated net income to P6.4 billion last year due to the impact of the pandemic.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, the firm said consolidated total revenues was lower by 26 percent at P32.7 billion.

Despite the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the Company’s business operations, Vista Land displayed resilience especially in its commercial business with rental revenues dropping only by 7 percent and its ability to quickly launch projects when presented with opportunities due to its land bank and presence across the country.

“The past year truly challenged our ability to move forward despite the presence of a global health crisis. However, it even proved to be one of our most innovative years yet as we accelerated our digital transformation to reach and to better serve our clients,” said Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar, Jr.

He noted that, “We are glad to have witnessed the sustained uptrend of our reservation sales registering 37 percent growth since the second quarter of last year and are looking at 2021 with optimism following the resilient OF remittances in 2020 and its projected growth of up to 4 percent this year.”

Villar added that, “Our leasing business, notwithstanding the series of lockdowns, was able to ramp up to 95 percent operational gross floor area (GFA) since the majority of our tenants are categorized as essential.”

“In 2020, we maximized the use of our existing raw land and were able to launch P5.0 billion worth of residential projects in the last quarter alone to end the year with a total launch value of P10.0 billion as the upward trajectory of our sales persists,” said Vista Land President & CEO Manuel Paolo A. Villar.

He said “We also added over 90,000 square meters of GFA for our leasing business, mostly commercial centers as we took advantage of the captive demand of our residents.”

Despite the decrease in revenues amid the pandemic, the Company was able to record a 42 percent EBITDA margin and has reduced its net gearing ratio to 0.87 times from 0.92 times in 2020.

“Vista Land will continue to capitalize on its geographic reach as the demand and preference of affordable housing located outside Metro Manila continues to be seen. We are also looking at increased foot traffic with the start of the vaccination rollout this year. Right now, our leasing business enjoys foot fall of 45-55 percent of pre-COVID,” he added.

Article and Photo originally posted by Manila Bulletin last April 2, 2021 4:10pm and written by James A. Loyola.