Cebu Landmasters hopes to sustain double-digit growth in 2023

Listed developer Cebu Landmasters Inc. (CLI) is optimistic to sustain post double-digit earnings growth in 2023, but the company said the guidance is set to be more conservative given the higher base from the previous year.

According to CLI chief operating officer Jose Franco Soberano, the company targets to continue its double-digit earnings growth, as its normalized net income to parent shareholders was up 32% to P3.171 billion, and revenues up 40% to P15.657 billion in 2022.

“If you look at our trend, we’ve been growing really 20% every year, at least. This year our base is so big na meaning our revenues are 16 (billion pesos). As the base goes bigger, you know, we have to get more conservative but we are announcing next month,” he told reporters in Taguig City.

“Of course, of course, hindi pwede (it cannot be) single-digit. Pagalitan ako ng boss ko (My boss will scold me),” he said in jest, with his father Jose Soberano III as the company’s chairman, chief executive officer, and president.

Real estate sales posted a 40% annual growth to P15.349 billion, as the construction hit full swing across all projects in 16 key cities across the Visayas and Mindanao at the end of 2022.

Hotel revenues jumped 71% to P83 million, while rental revenues grew 6% to P79.28 million on increased lease contracts and new tenants from its Latitude Corporate Center.

CLI has earmarked P13.5 billion for its capital expenditure program (capex) this year, with 83% going to project development and 11% for land acquisition, a fourth of which will be to expand in Luzon.

Among the locations being scouted are Batangas, Bicol, and Camarines Sur, mostly in the south of Luzon.

“There’s not much supply yet, and then you have growing regional centers there. We’re coming from the south so that’s the very promising areas from the south also of Luzon, so I think that’s a good entry point for us,” Soberano said.

Projects in Luzon will initially be housing, and will later cater to vertical projects, adding to the company’s 1 million-square-meter landbank, equivalent to over 100 hectares.

For his part, chief finance officer Beauregard Grant Cheng said the official guidance is set to be announced in May and will depend on the schedule of the sale of major projects.

“Of course, we’ve been growing tremendously for the past few years, so our base has gotten so much higher. We’ll strive for it (surpassing 2022 figures) but as of now, I can’t give specific figures,” he said.

“There are certain big strategic actions and pieces that we have to put in place before we can be confident and see what kind of growth that we will have in terms of revenues and net income this year,” he added.

CLI currently has a pipeline of P29.75-billion worth of projects expected to drive reservation sales this year, with three hospitality projects to be opened in 2023 — The Pad, lyf Cebu at Base Line Center, and Citadines Bacolod City.

It already has existing projects in Bohol, Cebu, Davao Misamis Oriental, Negros Oriental, and Negros Occidental.

Shares in CLI closed Thursday at P2.49 apiece, down P0.14 from Wednesday’s finish of P2.63 per share.—AOL, GMA Integrated News