VISTA LAND & Lifescapes, Inc., the property firm led by the country’s richest man Manuel B. Villar, Jr., reported a 10% increase in earnings in the second quarter, thanks to sustained sales of its residential projects and higher leasing revenues.

In a regulatory filing on Wednesday, Vista Land said its net income attributable to equity holders of the parent company stood at P2.81 billion for the April to June period, up 10% from the P2.55 billion it posted a year ago.

Second-quarter revenues jumped 8% to P11.95 billion, driven by a 4% rise in real estate sales to P9.23 billion and a 14% increase in rental income to P1.81 billion.

At the same time, costs and expenses increased by 11% to P7.2 billion during the April to June period.

For the first half, Vista Land said its attributable profit jumped 11% to P5.7 billion, on the back of an 11% rise in consolidated revenues to P23.4 billion.

Real estate revenues went up 8% to P18 billion during the first six months of 2019, “primarily attributable to the increase in the overall completion rate of sold inventories of all its business units.”

“Our reservations sales grew 8% during the period to P41 billion, which is still majority OFWs and over 90% end-users. We remain optimistic for the industry given the sustained demand in our residential business as well as the continued growth of our leasing business propelled by the steady growth in the disposable income, Overseas Filipino remittances, sound Philippine macroeconomic fundamentals and continued infrastructure development around the country especially in areas outside Metro Manila, where we have a competitive advantage given our geographic reach,” Mr. Villar, Vista Land chairman, said in a statement.

Camella generated P7.2 billion in real estate revenues, up 27%, while Communities Philippines increased its sales by 23% to P8.7 billion and Crown Asia posted an 8% rise in sales to P582 million.

Rental income rose 16% to P3.6 billion due to additional gross floor area leased out and higher rental rates at its malls.

“We remain confident about the company’s prospects for the rest of the year as we continue to expand our rental spaces which complements our existing core and stable end-user housing business. The strong performance of our leasing business came from the addition of gross floor area as well as growth in leasing revenue from our existing assets. Our leasable spaces are mostly retail malls which limits our POGO (Philippine offshore gaming operator) exposure to about 2% of the company’s overall leasing portfolio,” Manuel Paolo A. Villar, president and CEO of Vista Land, said.

Vista Land launched projects with an estimated value of P16 billion during the first half.

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