Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc., the property unit of real estate tycoon Manuel Villar Jr., said Tuesday net income grew 11 percent in the first semester to P4.3 billion from P3.84 billion in the same period last year despite lower revenues.
Vista Land said in a disclosure to the stock exchange first-half consolidated revenues slipped 4.3 percent to P15.42 billion from P16.12 billion a year ago.
“We remain optimistic with the industry for the rest of the year, especially with an economic backdrop that I consider on a rebound given strong GDP growth numbers so far and is forecasted at 7 percent to 9 percent growth for 2022,” Villar said.
“We have also seen sustained growth in overseas Filipino remittance which is projected to grow 4 percent this year. Demand from OF remained strong which is a factor in the 8-percent growth in our reservation sales of P32 billion for first half of 2022,” Villar said.
Real estate revenues reached P9 billion from January to June, while leasing income totaled P4.9 billion on a 35-percent growth from a year earlier.
Vista Land opened Vistamall Davao in June, after two years of no new mall openings. The new mall has 21,000 square meters of gross floor area and houses world-class retail concepts of the group.
The group had over 1.6 million sq. m. of GFA of investment properties consisting of 32 malls, 69 commercial centers and seven office buildings as of end-June.
Vista Land launched five residential projects with total sales value of P11 billion in the first half. These included three Vista Estate projects: Aspen in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan; Vidarte in Antipolo, Rizal; and Stanza in Tanza, Cavite.
“The pandemic also provided a venue for the company to review its strategies and implement various operational efficiency measures, which resulted in improvement in our margins. We have also announced our push for the upscale, vertical and commercial projects in our existing developments through our Vista Estate in various areas around the country, which we are now launching,” Villar said.
Vista Land listed VistaREIT Inc., its flagship real estate investment company, in June.
VREIT has an initial portfolio of 10 community-based malls and two office buildings.