MANILA, Philippines – Billionaire Manny Villar’s Vista Land and Lifescapes (VLL) finally released its long-delayed 2025 earnings figures on Monday, October 26, revealing a steep drop in net income despite higher operating earnings.

Its net income plunged 59% to P3.8 billion from P9.37 billion in 2024. The company, however, led its announcement with earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), which rose 6% to P24.2 billion from P22.82 billion, meeting what it described as “the company’s target for the year.”

Unlike net income, EBITDA excludes interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. This means it can rise even as the bottom line falls if these expenses increase, such as when a company faces substantial borrowing costs.

Vista Land also reported P35.8 billion in consolidated revenue, although gross profit from its residential business, after deducting direct costs, fell 18% to P9.7 billion. 

More puzzling is its September 2025 quarterly report, which showed P9.46 billion in net income for the first nine months alone, more than double the P3.8 billion now reported for the full year.

This leaves a more than P5-billion difference, which suggests a substantial fourth-quarter loss, revisions to earlier figures, or some combination of both. 

What drove the divergence remains unclear, as VLL issued only a press release with selected figures, rather than its set of full audited financial statements. The company did offer one possible explanation, saying its results “reflect, in part, the recognition of interest expenses that were not capitalized into qualifying assets.”

Instead, Vista Land emphasized that it launched 46 horizontal housing developments worth an estimated P49.6 billion, mainly under its Camella flagship brand. Its reported assets stood at P376.8 billion at year-end.

The earnings release arrives after months of delays in reporting the company’s financials. Vista Land is among six listed companies linked to the Villar family suspended from trading for missed reporting deadlines. 

On October 8, Vista Land, Vistamalls, and VistaREIT announced a board approval to release their 2025 audited statements. The disclosures came on the same afternoon Senator Mark Villar moved to the Senate majority, while his sister Camille remained in the minority.

But so far, Monday’s filing is still limited to a press release attached to an SEC Form 17-C, not the complete audited statements or annual report. It does not clear Vista Land to resume trading. – Rappler.com