MANILA – An official of Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) remains optimistic about a 10-percent revenue jump this 2020 amidst the pandemic, saying construction works in its various projects continued even during the quarantine period.
In a virtual briefing Monday, CLI executive vice president and chief operating officer Jose Franco Soberano said the company turned over several projects in recent months as they resumed construction works by about 90 to 100 percent after quarantine measures were eased.
“We are on-track to hit our year-end guidance, which we provided in the second quarter, of plus or minus 10 percent versus last year’s performance,” he said.
Last year, the Cebu-based real estate developer reported a 21-percent rise in net income to PHP2.01 billion, surpassing its PHP2-billion target.
As of end-September this year, the company reported a net income of PHP1.5 billion.
Total revenues reached PHP5.709 billion, lower than the PHP5.947 billion in the same period last year, which Soberano said is “not unique” for the company given the impact of the pandemic.
He said they have remaining projects to be launched this quarter and these are already in the final part of regulatory compliance.
For 2021, Soberano said they plan to launch about 13 to 15 projects since most of their current projects are already 90 to 100 percent sold.
“Real estate is in a position to bounce back strongly,” he said, citing CLI’s capacity to hit record sales in the first nine months this year despite the pandemic.
During the same event, CLI director Beauregard Grant Cheng said the company is still faring well amidst the challenging environment.
“While Cebu Landmasters was affected just like everyone else in the industry during the pandemic, in terms of the slowdown in our performance, you can see that we still performed relatively well,” he said, attributing this to the company’s ability to “navigate the local regulatory environment.”
Based on market segment, the company’s mid-market projects accounted for the bulk of the sales in the third quarter at 40 percent, followed by the economic sector, high-end, and the socialized housing projects.
By location, projects in Cebu remain the major driver with a share of 50 percent followed by those from Cagayan de Oro, Bacolod, Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo, and Bohol.
Cheng said reservation sales gave a big boost on the company’s revenues, especially those coming from the Casa Mira Iloilo, Velmiro Greens Bohol, and Casa Mira Towers Mandaue.
He is optimistic about surpassing their 2019 reservation sales given the robust business this year.
The company’s total assets as of end-September this year amounted to PHP48.18 billion, higher than the PHP38.28 billion in end-December 2019.
Liabilities increased to PHP34.01 billion from end-2019’s PHP24.54 billion. (PNA)
