Vista Land profit cut by a tenth

MANILA, Philippines - Profits of Vista Land and Lifescapes, Inc., the listed property holding firm led by presidential candidate Senator Manuel B. Villar, Jr., dropped by more than a tenth to P2.6 billion last year amid an economic slowdown.

An executive said on Friday there should be a recovery in the industry this year. "2009, as expected, was a tough year, but in spite of a very challenging market environment, we were able to achieve our financial targets," Ricardo B. Tan, Jr., senior vice-president for Finance of Vista Land, said in a statement.

Mr. Tan said the latest profit figure was above the target of P2.1 billion to P2.5 billion. "We saw a pick up in the fourth quarter. We managed to keep our expenses under control," Mr. Tan said in a briefing on Friday.

Revenues fell by 8% to P9.6 billion from P10.436 billion year-on-year, Vista Land told the local bourse.

Vista Land operates under five brands -- Brittany that sells house-and-lot units for as much as P9 million, Crown Asia for homes worth P3.5 million to P9 million, Camella Homes for P3.5 million and below, Communities Philippines that sells Camella Homes in the provinces, and condominium arm Vista Residences.

Mr. Tan said Vista Land ended 2009 with a P3.146 billion in cash, lower than the P5.045 billion at the end of 2008.

For this year, Mr. Tan said revenues should rise to "P10.8 billion to maybe P11 billion."

"Bottom line will still be under P3 billion," he added.

Vista Land will launch 30 projects this year, of which 22 will be under the low-end Camella brand. The projects are valued at P30.2 billion. The P10-billion capital expenditure budgeted this year will generally be funded internally, with P1 billion to be obtained from local banks, Mr. Tan said.

Last year, the property developer allotted P8 billion in capital for 23 projects launched.

Sales were brisk in the first quarter compared with the same period last year, he said, without citing figures. "The property sector is on an upswing. Confidence is growing and we see what the competition is doing," Mr. Tan said.

Last month, property giant Ayala Land, Inc. launched its economic housing arm Amaia Land, which will put up 1,300 units in Laguna this year.

Despite increased competition in the low-end property market, Mr. Tan said the firm would continue its expansion. Vista Land is present in 44 cities and municipalities covering 19 provinces nationwide. The 33-year-old Camella brand specializes in affordable housing and accounts for bulk of the firm’s sales.

To date, the Vista Land group has built the largest number of homes among all local developers, with a total of more than 200,000 units.

The real estate firm still has 1,408 hectares in its "land bank," 78% of which are located in Metro Manila and neighboring provinces, data from the company showed.

Ampatuans: Billionaires of 3rd poorest province?

MANILA, Philippines - Officially, the networth of the Ampatuan clan's patriarch is P11 million. Unofficially, however, the wealth of embattled Andal Ampatuan Sr., former Maguindanao governor, and his family members, could reach up to at least P1.3 billion.

The official accounting of Ampatuan Sr.’s wealth was based on the 2002 statement of assets, liabilities and networth disclosed by the Maguindanao governor to the government.

Aside from Ampatuan Sr., who has been a politician for decades, other relatives also hold various public positions. Public officials are required to submit an accounting of their wealth for transparency.

Recently, Justice Secretary Agnes Devanadera said the government is already moving to freeze the assets of the Ampatuan clan and that the Anti-Money Laundering Council has started looking into the assets of the Ampatuans.

She said a freeze order on the Ampatuan's wealth may be forthcoming.

Mansions

The P11 million official networth of the Ampatuan Sr. is far from the reported assets believed to be owned by the clan he heads.

He and family members are reported to own the following properties:
- 16 homes in Davao City
- 14 houses located in Maguindanao province, divided among family members
- 2 houses in nearby Tacurong City in adjacent Sultan Kudarat province
- 2 mansions in Metro Manila - one in Makati City and another in posh Alabang village.

These properties, believed to be listed under different names, are estimated to be worth hundreds of millions of pesos.

Billionaire Ampatuan

An ABS-CBN News source said almost all of the houses have vaults that contain weapons and cash.

According to a source from the police, the cash of the Ampatuans, hidden in various locations, aggregate to about P1.3 billion.

Another source said total cash could reach up to P3 billion since the Ampatuans prefer to stay liquid instead of stashing them in bank accounts or other financial instruments that are regulated.

In the latest raid conducted by the military on several Ampatuan homes in Maguindanao, no cash was retrieved.

Authorities suspect the family was able to hide the money before martial law was declared over the province.

Sources familiar with the wealth and investments of the Ampatuans said the family’s personal bank accounts, as well as the company accounts of their businesses, have also been cleaned out.

Poor kingdom

If these are true, the Ampatuans have amassed billions of pesos in wealth while the rest of Maguindanao wallowed in poverty.

The National Statistics Coordinating Board said Maguindanao is the third poorest province in the Philippines.

The Ampatuans own several businesses in the province, including a gasoline station and a pawnshop.

The government is currently studying assets of the Ampatuan clan that could not have been acquired with their meager salaries as public officials.

After the government concludes its investigation into the massacre and rebellion cases against the Ampatuans, its next target is the unlawfully accumulated assets of the clan. Executive secretary Eduardo Ermita said these will be frozen and seized.