GuocoLand Full-Year Profit Up 81%

Source : The Business Times, August 25, 2007

Revenue jumps 94% to $702.5m; Q4 earnings more than triple to $194.7m

QUEK Leng Chan's Singapore-listed GuocoLand yesterday posted fourth-quarter net profit of $194.7 million, more than triple the $53.7 million in the same year-ago period, boosting full-year net earnings to $281.9 million, up 81 per cent from the preceding year.

By the year-end, GuocoLand is preparing to launch at least three projects, including a luxury condo on the site of Casa Rosita

GuocoLand attributed the improved bottom line for the year ended June 30, 2007 partly to higher profits recognised from residential development projects in Singapore and from the sale of residential apartments in West End Point in Beijing.

In addition, GuocoLand's other income increased 33 per cent to $194.7 million; the figure includes revaluation gain of $116.5 million on investment properties in Singapore (mainly from Tung Centre) and a $19.3 million gain from the sale of the group's long-term investment in BIL International Ltd.

Revenue for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2007 jumped to $361 million from $59.6 million in the same year-ago period, while full-year revenue jumped 94 per cent to $702.5 million.

The full-year increase was due primarily to a nearly 90 per cent jump in revenue from property development to $652.8 million.

By end-December 2007, GuocoLand is preparing to launch at least three projects - a freehold luxury condo named Goodwood Residence on the Casa Rosita site in Bukit Timah, Phase 1 of the residential component of a Ho Chi Minh City p``roject, and the maiden phase of Ascot Park, a 1,112-unit condo in Nanjing.

The group's China land bank currently stands at about two million square metres gross floor area, while its Singapore land bank is about 236,000 sq m saleable area.

Full-year earnings per share rose from 24.43 cents to 46.15 cents.

Net asset value per share stood at $2.30 as at June 30, 2007, up from $1.83 a year earlier. Ordinary shareholders will receive an 8-cent per share first and final dividend, just like in the preceding year.