Vista Land and Lifescapes Inc., the property development arm of the Villar Group, on Thursday said it posted a net income of P3.8 billion for the first semester, up 9 percent from last year’s P3.53 billion.
“We remain optimistic about the industry especially with the performance of overseas Filipino remittances, which registered two consecutive months of double-digit growth and are currently at 6.6 percent growth for the first 5 months of the year,” Vista Land Chairman Manuel B. Villar Jr. said.
Villar said demand from overseas Filipinos remained strong, which contributed to the 14-percent hike in reservation sales of P29.4 billion for the period. The pandemic also provided a venue for the company to review its strategies and implement various operational efficiency measures which resulted in improvement in its margins, he said.
The company said it posted real estate revenues of P11.1 billion, down 13 percent from last year, due to slower construction activities in the provincial areas where various quarantine classifications were implemented during the period.
Leasing income, meanwhile, increased 6 percent to P3.6 billion. The company’s newly opened commercial centers, where the majority of the tenants are essential, such as home stores and supermarkets, contributed to the topline growth.
“The various digital initiatives we have implemented since last year are already yielding positive results, but we have just started, and we are working on more initiatives all aimed at better serving our clients as well as expand our reach,” Manuel Paolo A. Villar, the company’s president and CEO, said.
Capital expenditures for the first half of the year reached P11.3 billion mainly for construction and land development.
Land acquisitions remained muted as the company disclosed that it is looking at maximizing its existing land bank.
The company had 2,953 hectares of land as of end-June. A total of P5.2 billion worth of projects were launched during the period, comprising one high-end project, three affordable projects and two mid-rise buildings.