First Sponsor Group's Q4 net profit more than doubles to S$72.9m

MAINBOARD-LISTED property developer First Sponsor Group on Tuesday posted more than double growth in net profit to S$72.9 million for its fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016, up from S$31.9 million a year ago.

This is despite a significant fall in revenue from S$100.3 million in the previous year to S$21.6 million this year, due mainly to lower revenue from the sale of properties and property financing of S$74.1 million and S$4.8 million respectively.

Earnings per share for the quarter came up to 12.36 Singapore cents, compared with 5.41 cents last year.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, First Sponsor Group reported a record S$113.1 million in net profit, which represents a year-on-year increase of 67 per cent from S$67.4 million a year ago.

Revenue for the financial year was S$189.7 million - 11.7 per cent lower than the previous year's S$214.96 million - boosted by a gain of about S$97.3 million through a dilution of the company's interest in the Star of East River project in Dongguan.

First Sponsor Group has recommended a dividend of one Singapore cent for the financial year ended Dec 31, taking total dividend for FY2016 to two Singapore cents per share, which represents a 17.6 per cent increase from FY2015.

In a separate announcement, the company said that it is working together with Dutch property developer Provast to develop three residential tower blocks with facilities in Amsterdam Southeast.