Capitaland Q1 net profit falls 7.4 per cent to S$295.6m

ASIAN real estate behemoth CapitaLand's net profit for its first quarter decreased 7.4 per cent to S$295.6 million from the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Tuesday evening.

This was because of lower operating profit after tax and minority interest (Patmi) from lower trading income from residential projects in Singapore and China, as well as lower writeback of impairments, partially offset by gains from assets recycling and revaluation of a property in China.

For the three months ended March 31, revenue fell 23.8 per cent to S$1.05 billion from the preceding year.

The company said that this was caused mainly by lower revenue contributions from residential projects, as there were fewer units handed over compared to the year-ago quarter. However, this was cushioned by recurring rental income from new acquisitions, including CapitaLand's portfolio of multifamily properties in the US and a commercial property in Europe acquired in 2018. Earnings per share dipped to 7.1 Singapore cents from 7.5 Singapore cents in the year-ago period.  In Q1 2019, CapitaLand announced the proposed mega-acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge and obtained shareholder approval on April 12. Lee Chee Koon, president and group CEO of CapitaLand Group, said: "This year, CapitaLand has already launched two new funds, and we will ride on the momentum to further augment our fund management business. We will also continue to focus on recycling capital, especially through the divestment of non-core assets; as well as deploying capital in areas where we can be competitive and drive growth."

He also said that it will continue to maintain a balanced portfolio in emerging and developed markets, and also scale up its asset-light lodging portfolio and fund management platforms.

CapitaLand closed on Tuesday at S$3.53, down S$0.060 or 1.67 per cent before the announcement was made.