UOL Group's FY2014 net profit falls 13% to S$686 million on lower fair value gains

Property and hotel group UOL posted a 13 per cent drop in net earnings for the year ended Dec 31, 2014 to S$686 million - due mainly to lower fair value gains.

Excluding fair value and other gains, group pre-tax profit rose 21 per cent to S$515.2 million from S$427.3 million for the previous year. The increase was helped by a one-time pre-tax gain of S$98.9 million from the sale of the development project at Jalan Conlay in Malaysia, lower finance expenses, as well as higher share of profits from associated and joint venture companies.

Fair value gains on the group's investment properties and those of associated companies fell 41 per cent to S$296.3 million. Revenue rose 29 per cent to S$1.36 billion.

Earnings per share eased 14 per cent to 88 cents.

Net asset value per share rose to S$9.71 as at end-Dec 2014 from S$8.77 as at end-Dec 2013. The counter closed 8 cents lower at S$7.73 on Thursday. UOL announced its results after the stockmarket closed.

The group is proposing a first and final dividend of 15 cents per share for FY2014.