Gravity-Defying Rise Of Philippine Billionaire Manuel Villar's Property Company Comes Under Regulatory Scrutiny
Villar Land said it has been in compliance with existing SEC and Philippine Stock Exchange (PSE) rules. The company is 'currently undergoing a rigorous audit process by external auditors and this includes a comprehensive review of appraisal reports covering high-value properties,' Villar Land's chief financial officer Estrellita Tan said in a statement. Punongbayan & Araullo, a member firm of Grant Thornton International, is the company's external auditor.
Last week, SEC chairman Francis Lim disclosed that the securities watchdog had initiated an investigation amid investors' questions over the inflated value of Villar Land's shares. 'We cannot make judgments before investigating the facts,' Lim said. 'Let's just be fair, be as objective as possible. … But we must dig deeper.'
The gravity-defying run of Villar Land's shares on the stock market made it the country's most valuable company with its market cap skyrocketing to 1.5 trillion pesos ($26.3 billion). This surpassed the valuations of the Sy siblings' SM Investments and billionaire Ramon Ang's San Miguel, both storied companies with diverse businesses. Villar Land, which started out in the cemetery business and got known for its memorial parks, has a public float of 11%, just above the mandated minimum of 10%.
The upward trajectory of its shares came to an abrupt halt in May when trading was suspended by the PSE over the company's delay in filing its audited annual financial statement for 2024. 'The valuation was highly debatable and potentially inflated,' says Toby Allan Arce, head of equity sales trading at Manila-based Globalinks Securities, via text message.
In an unaudited financial report released in March, Villar Land said it posted net profit of close to one trillion pesos for 2024 (after providing for a 334-billion-peso deferred tax liability), compared with 1.5 billion pesos in the previous year, thanks to booking a massive 1.3 trillion pesos in revaluation gains. These were accrued, the company said, from the 366-hectare land parcel that it had acquired from Manuel Villar's privately held companies last October at a price of 5.2 billion pesos. Lim, a corporate lawyer who served as president and CEO of the PSE from 2004 to 2010, said the SEC will look at the valuation that was used.
'The company has consistently disclosed material developments and continues to coordinate with regulatory bodies regarding the status of its financials,' Villar Land's Tan said.
Villar, a former senator who ran for president in 2010, remains politically influential with two of his children in the Senate. Besides his stakes in Villar Land and other real estate companies, he has interests in energy, media, retail, restaurants, and a water utility company. His real-time net worth of $11 billion, makes him one of the wealthiest persons in the Philippines.
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