Wheelock Properties (Singapore) posts 3.4% rise in Q2 profit to S$36.5m

WHEELOCK Properties (Singapore) on Friday posted a 3.4 per cent rise in net profit for the second quarter ended June 30 to S$36.5 million from S$35.3 million in the same period last year.

Revenue declined 57.2 per cent to S$128.7 million due mainly to lower sales in Ardmore Three and The Panorama in Singapore and lower interest income from the group's investment in quoted securities. This was partly offset by higher sales from Scotts Square in Singapore and a project in China.

Other income declined 64.5 per cent to S$1.5 million - due largely to the absence of net gain on disposal of the group's investment in quoted securities.

Wheelock said that included in other operating expenses for Q2 and the first half of FY2017 was a S$1 million write-back of diminution in value made on The Panorama.

Net profit for the first six months inched up 0.3 per cent to S$46.6 million from S$46.4 million.

Earnings per share rose to 3.05 Singapore cents in Q2 FY2017 from 2.95 Singapore cents in Q2 FY2016.

Net asset value per share stood at S$2.53 as at end-June 2017, up slightly from S$2.50 as at end-December 2016.

The counter closed two Singapore cents lower at S$1.805 on Friday. Wheelock announced its results after the market closed. Shareholders will not be receiving any interim dividend for Q2 FY2017.

Wheelock said that construction for The Panorama, a 698-unit fully sold condo project in Ang Mo Kio, is in progress and targeted for completion in Q3 2017. Progress billings are currently at 60 per cent.

The group also said that 85 per cent or 71 of Ardmore Three's 84 units have been sold.