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04-03-14, 20:52
http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/saturday/premium/money/story/uol-sees-earnings-slide-lower-sales-20140301
UOL sees earnings slide on lower sales
Full-year net profit down 3% to $785.8 million; revenue falls 8%
Published on Mar 01, 2014
By Melissa Tan
LOWER property project sales last year weighed down full-year earnings for property developer UOL yesterday.
Net profit for the 12 months to Dec 31 slid 3 per cent to $785.8 million from the preceding year, UOL said in a Singapore Exchange filing.
Revenue for the period fell 8per cent to $1.06 billion from the year before.
UOL said that office and mall rentals and its hospitality business helped cushion declines from property project sales last year.
It sold 666 units with a combined sales value of more than $552 million last year.
However, not all these sales can be immediately recognised due to accounting standards. Profits from residential projects in Singapore are split up and recognised in the developer's financial statements over a period of time, rather than all at once.
The revenue from property developments that UOL posted for last year tumbled 27 per cent to $410 million from the preceding year.
This drop was largely because some of its projects were completed in 2012 or early last year, it said.
Those included the 646-unit Double Bay Residences in Simei and the 616-unit Waterbank at Dakota in Dakota Crescent.
The decline was partly offset by an 11 per cent climb in revenue from hotel ownership and operations to $420.4 million for the year. This included contributions from UOL's new $350 million Parkroyal on Pickering hotel in Chinatown, which opened in January last year.
Revenue from property investments also rose 9 per cent to $180.2 million last year.
UOL said the opening of its Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road in May last year added to recurring rental revenue from its investment portfolio.
"Our strategy to grow the investment assets has begun to bear fruit," said group chief executive Gwee Lian Kheng.
"We will continue to grow recurring income stream from our existing asset portfolio and seek suitable hospitality and commercial investments overseas."
He said that the delisting of the Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which is UOL's hospitality arm, was expected to lift profit in future.
Earnings per share were $1.0201 for the year, down from $1.0506 the preceding year.
Net asset value per share rose to $8.77 as at Dec 31 last year from $7.98 as at Dec 31, 2012.
The company proposed a final dividend of 15 cents per share plus a special dividend of five cents which it said was to mark its 50th anniversary.
Its shares rose five cents to $6.12 yesterday.
[email protected]
UOL sees earnings slide on lower sales
Full-year net profit down 3% to $785.8 million; revenue falls 8%
Published on Mar 01, 2014
By Melissa Tan
LOWER property project sales last year weighed down full-year earnings for property developer UOL yesterday.
Net profit for the 12 months to Dec 31 slid 3 per cent to $785.8 million from the preceding year, UOL said in a Singapore Exchange filing.
Revenue for the period fell 8per cent to $1.06 billion from the year before.
UOL said that office and mall rentals and its hospitality business helped cushion declines from property project sales last year.
It sold 666 units with a combined sales value of more than $552 million last year.
However, not all these sales can be immediately recognised due to accounting standards. Profits from residential projects in Singapore are split up and recognised in the developer's financial statements over a period of time, rather than all at once.
The revenue from property developments that UOL posted for last year tumbled 27 per cent to $410 million from the preceding year.
This drop was largely because some of its projects were completed in 2012 or early last year, it said.
Those included the 646-unit Double Bay Residences in Simei and the 616-unit Waterbank at Dakota in Dakota Crescent.
The decline was partly offset by an 11 per cent climb in revenue from hotel ownership and operations to $420.4 million for the year. This included contributions from UOL's new $350 million Parkroyal on Pickering hotel in Chinatown, which opened in January last year.
Revenue from property investments also rose 9 per cent to $180.2 million last year.
UOL said the opening of its Pan Pacific Serviced Suites Beach Road in May last year added to recurring rental revenue from its investment portfolio.
"Our strategy to grow the investment assets has begun to bear fruit," said group chief executive Gwee Lian Kheng.
"We will continue to grow recurring income stream from our existing asset portfolio and seek suitable hospitality and commercial investments overseas."
He said that the delisting of the Pan Pacific Hotels Group, which is UOL's hospitality arm, was expected to lift profit in future.
Earnings per share were $1.0201 for the year, down from $1.0506 the preceding year.
Net asset value per share rose to $8.77 as at Dec 31 last year from $7.98 as at Dec 31, 2012.
The company proposed a final dividend of 15 cents per share plus a special dividend of five cents which it said was to mark its 50th anniversary.
Its shares rose five cents to $6.12 yesterday.
[email protected]