Perennial Q4 profit up 7.9% to S$27.6m

PERENNIAL Real Estate saw its fourth-quarter net profit rising 7.9 per cent to S$27.6 million from S$25.6 million last year, largely driven by net fair value gains on the revaluation of investment properties held through its subsidiaries and joint ventures, the integrated real estate and healthcare company said on Thursday.

This translated to an earnings per share of 1.66 Singapore cents for the quarter ended Dec 31, up from 1.54 Singapore cents for the year-ago period.

Revenue for the fourth quarter, however, fell 25.7 per cent to S$16 million. This was mainly due to the absence of revenue from TripleOne Somerset following its divestment of a 20.2 per cent equity stake in the mall on March 31, 2017, Perennial said. The group retains a 30 per cent stake in TripleOne Somerset and accounted for it as an associate.

According to the group, its Singapore assets contributed about S$3.3 million or 20.4 per cent of its revenue for the quarter, while operational assets in China contributed S$9.3 million, or 58 per cent its fourth-quarter revenue. The remainder came from its fee-based management businesses.

The group's proposed dividend for full-year 2017 is estimated at one Singapore cent, 2.5 times that of its dividend from last year. The books closure date is on May 4, 2018, and the date payable for this proposed dividend stands at May 18.

Perennial's shares traded 1.2 per cent, or one Singapore cent higher to close at S$0.835 apiece on Wednesday.