Saturday, January 26, 2008

Wing Tai's Second-Quarter Net Profit Slips 19% To $43.6m

Source : The Business Times, January 26, 2008

WING Tai Holdings yesterday reported a 19 per cent year-on-year drop in net profit to $43.6 million for its second quarter ended Dec 31, 2007, while revenue plunged 59 per cent.

Revenue contributor: Artist's impression of The Riverine by the Park. Wing Tai said in view of volatility in the current market, it will continue to monitor the property market closely.

Q2 sales for the property group came to $110.7 million, while earnings per share were 5.81 cents - down from 7.47 cents.

The Q2 earnings brought first-half net profit attributable to shareholders to $105.35 million, a rise of 25 per cent, even though revenue fell 52 per cent to $210.9 million. The results included a $27.5 million gain from the disposal of available-for-sale financial assets.

The company attributed the lower half-year sales to smaller contribution from the development properties division.

Revenue on development properties for the current period was mainly from the units sold in The Riverine by The Park, The Meritz and The Lakeside.

The profits recognised from these three projects contributed to its operating profit of $70.1 million - down 37 per cent from $110.5 million a year ago.

However, the company was helped by a more than three-fold jump in the share of profit of associated and joint venture companies, which lifted half-year net income.

The share of profit from associates and joint ventures rose from $23.2 million in the previous corresponding period to $75.9 million, due to the higher contributions from VisionCrest and Casa Merah projects in Singapore.

Wing Tai said that in view of volatility in the current market, it will continue to monitor the property market closely.

New residential projects for sale in the current year will be released at an opportune time.

Yesterday, Credit Suisse issued an 'underperform' on the stock, with a price target of $2.48.

The shares ended trading yesterday at $2.30 - up 6 cents from previously.

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