AUSTRALIAN fund manager Platinum Investment Management Ltd. increased its stake in listed developer Vista Land & Lifescapes Inc. to 5.02 percent as of January 20. 

Vista Land shares rose 1.29 percent to P3.14 each by Thursday’s close, giving the builder a market value of P26.52 billion.

A Philippine Stock Exchange filing showed that Platinum Investment owns 426.49 million common shares of Vista Land after acquiring 12.42 million shares from the open market in the last 60 days.                

It bought shares from P2.94 each to as much as P3.09 each, the filing showed. 

Vista Land, which is controlled by the family of Sen. Manuel Villar Jr., is considered the Philippines-largest developer of horizontal housing projects. For 2012, it plans to launch 32 residential subdivision projects with a sales value of P32 billion. It launched 23 projects, including residential condominiums, valued at P21 billion in 2011. 

Driven mainly by sales to overseas Filipinos, the builder reported that net income in the nine months to September last year hit P2.61 billion, up 20 percent on revenues of P9.9 billion, or a gain of 21 percent.