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COMPANIES

CDL posts 53% jump in Q4 earnings

Revenue up 23 per cent; firm plans to become more active overseas

Published on Mar 01, 2013

By Melissa Tan


PROPERTY giant City Developments (CDL) said yesterday that fourth-quarter net profit jumped 53 per cent to $249.3 million, boosted by an improved showing by its property development business.

This was on the back of a 23 per cent climb in revenue to $886.4 million for the three months to Dec 31.

Chairman Kwek Leng Beng told a briefing that the company, seen by some as being Singapore-centric, would move to become more active overseas.

"(This year) remains unpredictable on the global economic front. The group has already established some growth platforms and will build upon them. We will focus on deriving more earnings from overseas growth engines," he said in a statement.

The company said its unit, CDL China, has received planning approval for a luxury residential project in Chongqing and a mixed-use development in Suzhou, and construction is expected to begin in mid-2013 for both.

Mr Kwek added that apart from residential projects, hotel operations were a key contributor for the group.

Hotel subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C) posted net profit of £45.9 million (S$86.2million) for the fourth quarter, up 13.6 per cent from the corresponding period the preceding year.

The firm said that M&C would focus on improving returns from its existing portfolio of over 100 hotels through asset management and refurbishments in its gateway city properties.

For the full year to Dec 31, City Developments reported a 15 per cent decline in profit to $678.3 million amid challenging conditions. Revenue, however, grew 2.2 per cent to a record $3.35 billion last year.

The company said that profit would have grown 5.8 per cent compared with 2011, excluding one-off gains.

Residential sales shot up 58 per cent to about $2.78 billion from the preceding year.

CDL launched five projects last year and sold 2,395 units, including executive condo (EC) units. The Rainforest, which is a 466-unit EC in Choa Chu Kang, and 702-unit condo Bartley Residences are both fully sold.

Echelon, a 508-unit condo in Alexandra that was launched in December last year, is more than 84 per cent sold.

The other launches were Up@Robertson Quay and Haus@Serangoon Garden, which are 75 per cent and 99 per cent sold respectively.

CDL will launch three projects in the first half of this year. They are D'Nest, which is a 912-unit condo in Pasir Ris Grove, Bartley Ridge, which is an 868-unit condo off Bartley Road, and a 616-unit condo in Buangkok Drive.

Earnings per share stood at 73.2 cents for the full year, down from 86.4 cents in 2011.

Net asset value was $8.03 as at Dec 31 last year, up from $7.51 as at Dec 31, 2011.

CDL proposed a dividend of 13 cents, which includes a special dividend of five cents.

The shares closed four cents higher at $11.17 yesterday.

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