Cebu Landmasters posts 'record' 9-month reservation sales

MANILA, Philippines — Listed property developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. saw reservation sales grow to “record” levels in the first nine months despite pandemic disruptions, boosting the company’s confidence in beating its sales target for the year.

In a disclosure to the stock exchange on Monday, Cebu Landmasters — a major landlord in the Visayas and Mindanao regions — reported reservation sales grew 13% year-on-year to P11.8 billion from January to September this year.

Most of the seven projects launched during the period are now 90% to 100% sold out, the company said. Broken down, 38% of those residential developments are in Cebu, while 21% are in Iloilo and 17% in Cagayan. The rest are located in Davao, Bacolod, Dumaguete, Ormoc and Bohol.

At this point, Jose Soberano III, company chief executive, believes Cebu Landmasters “will exceed its sales target” for this year. The property developer is targeting a 15 to 20-percent year-on-year growth in consolidated revenues, which amounted to P8.30 billion in 2020.

“We see our sales momentum further picking up speed in the fourth quarter as we launch more residential projects in VisMin for our buyers who are predominantly end-users,” Soberano said.

“Demand for mid and economic homes in VisMin continues to be strong despite the extended economic effects of the pandemic and we are optimistic take-up will further improve as recovery takes place,” he added.

Half of the reservation sales came from Cebu Landmasters' low-cost Casa Mira brand while its mid-market Garden series accounted for 33% of the total. The high-end Premier Masters contributed 17% to the nine-month reservation sales.

The company is expected to launch more projects soon. Cebu Landmasters earlier announced it now controls technology hub developer MingMori Development Corp after hiking its ownership in the company to 80%. MingMori is involved in one of Cebu Landmaster’s largest projects — a 100-hectare island reclamation development in Cebu which will erect a techno-business hub and fully integrated port facility.

Last week, the Philippine Reclamation Authority gave the go-ahead for the project.

As of 12:27 p.m., shares in Cebu Landmasters were trading up 0.34%, tracking hefty gains in the main index.