CapitaLand Q3 earnings drop 7.8% to S$333.9m

ASIAN real estate behemoth CapitaLand's net profit for its third quarter dropped 7.8 per cent to S$333.9 million from S$362.2 million a year ago mainly due to lower portfolio gains, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Tuesday morning.

This was partially mitigated by a higher operating profit after tax and minority interest, which was mainly due to the maiden contribution from Ascendas-Singbridge, better contributions from China development projects and fee income from Vietnam.

With the completion of its acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge on June 28, Raffles City Chongqing became a subsidiary of CapitaLand. Ascendas-Singbridge and Raffles City Chongqing combined contributed S$35.2 million to the group's net profit and S$205.3 million to its revenue.

For the three months ended Sept 30, revenue jumped 37.1 per cent to S$1.73 billion from S$1.26 billion in the previous year, mainly due to higher contributions from China development projects, contributions from Ascendas-Singbridge and CapitaLand's multifamily portfolio in the US.

The residential projects contributing to revenue were The Metropolis in Kunshan, China; Sky Habitat in Singapore; and Mulberry Lane in Vietnam, said CapitaLand.

The core markets of Singapore and China accounted for 67.3 per cent of its Q3 2019 revenue.

The first full-quarter contribution from Ascendas-Singbridge has provided an immediate uplift to the quality of CapitaLand's earnings, said Lee Chee Koon, group CEO of CapitaLand.

He added that active and disciplined asset recycling remains an important part of CapitaLand's strategy to enhance returns and rejuvenate its portfolio for sustainable growth.

"Year to date, we have divested more than S$5.2 billion worth of assets and released S$2.4 billion of net capital back to the group. This will enhance our financial flexibility to seize potential opportunities ahead."

CapitaLand shares closed up S$0.04 or 1.1 per cent to S$3.69 on Monday.