Villar Land: Delay in filing financial statements not due to auditor’s refusal to sign

Villar Land Holdings Corp. on Thursday issued a clarification on its failure to submit the mandatory financial statements to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on time, which resulted in the imposition of a fine against the company.

“We wish to clarify that the delay in the filing of the Annual Report and the Q1 2025 Quarterly Report of Villar Land is not due to the refusal of its external auditor to sign the 2024 Audited Financial Statements,” the property developer said in a statement.

“The delay was caused by the auditor’s varying requests for additional audit procedures in the course of their review of the valuation of the Villar City properties that were acquired by Villar Land in 2024,” it added.

Villar Land issued the clarification after the SEC-Markets and Securities Regulation Department fined the property giant, along with its directors and officers, an aggregate amount of P12 million for failure to submit the mandatory audited financial statements on time.

In its explanation to the corporate regulator, the property developer cited an ongoing valuation dispute with its independent auditor, Punongbayan & Araullo, regarding the 366.34 hectares of land for the sprawling Villar City development through the buyout of Althorp Land Holdings Inc., Chalgrove Properties Inc., and Los Valores Corp. with a total fair value of P1.339 trillion.

The company said that while it firmly believes that it is the fair value of the Villar City properties that should be reflected in its financial statements, “in the interest of securing the immediate release of the 2024 Audited Financial Statements, it had reluctantly proposed to the external auditors the use of cost basis in recording the value of the same properties.”

In imposing the penalty on Villar Land, the SEC insisted that “the timely submission of annual and quarterly reports is mandatory and non-negotiable under the SRC (Securities Regulation Code) and its implementing rules and regulations.”

The corporate regulator added that Villar Land "has been afforded a significant period, from January 1, 2025 to the original due date of April 15, 2025, the extended deadline of April 30, 2025, and the additional extension granted by the Commission until June 30, 2025, to complete the preparation and submission of the 2024 AFS.”

Nonetheless, Villar Land welcomed the opportunity to explain their side on the issues raised and vowed to respond to the SEC’s order. –VBL, GMA Integrated News