http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/sub/...46340,00.html?
Published February 21, 2009
MCL posts 2008 loss of US$107.3m
Group hit by US$180.2m writedown of development properties for sale
By EMILYN YAP
HIT by property writedowns, real estate developer MCL Land swung into the red for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2008. The firm yesterday posted a net loss of US$107.3 million, in contrast to a net profit of US$61.9 million a year earlier.
Loss per share came to 29 US cents, against earnings per share of 16.73 US cents previously.
While MCL Land recognised development profits from The Grange, Mera Springs and The Esta projects for the year, a US$180.2 million writedown of development properties for sale eroded those takings.
'Property prices have fallen significantly and the outlook for the residential property market in Singapore has become increasingly uncertain,' the developer said. This led the company to revise the carrying value of these properties downwards.
MCL said the US$107.3 million loss attributable to shareholders included a US$0.9 million fair value adjustment to the group's investment properties.
For FY08, group revenue fell 12 per cent year-on-year to US$343.1 million. MCL Land's board is recommending a first and final dividend of 10 Singapore cents per share payable on May 26, 2009.
'Confidence in the residential property markets in Singapore and Malaysia is extremely weak as a consequence of the current economic downturn with few buyers willing to commit to property purchases,' said MCL Land chairman Y K Pang. '2009 is expected to be a challenging year.'
But he expects the completion of three developments here this year - The Fernhill, Tierra Vue and Hillcrest Villa - to provide some lift to the group's results for the year. 'With strong cash flow generated from the sale of development properties and a healthy balance sheet, the group is well-placed to weather the difficult economic and market conditions.'
MCL Land also has the Waterfall Gardens and D'Pavilion scheduled for completion in 2010 and The Peak@Balmeg in 2011. The company has another seven projects at various stages of planning approval and it plans to launch them progressively in the next few years.
Shares of MCL Land fell half a cent yesterday to close at 66 cents.