First Sponsor posts 13.9% surge in Q3 profit

ROBUST sales from developer First Sponsor's projects in Chengdu and Dongguan in China, and higher contribution from the higher-yielding property financing business raised net profit for the third quarter by 13.9 per cent to S$22.02 million from the year-ago period, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Wednesday morning.

For the three months ended Sept 30, 2017, revenue fell 21.4 per cent to S$64.82 million from the year-ago period. The contraction was due mainly to lower revenue from the sale of properties and lower rental income from investment properties, partially offset by an increase in revenue from property financing and hotel operations, the company said.

Revenue from property financing soared to S$11.3 million for the quarter from S$2.9 million for third-quarter 2016.

The company said that rental income from investment properties fell to S$3.1 million for the quarter, down 17.5 per cent from S$3.8 million in the year-ago period, due mainly to lower rental revenue from the Dutch Zuiderhof I property, as a result of lease incentives granted for a seven-year lease extension.

All 7,302 residential units and 297 out of 371 commercial units within the residential development of the Millennium Waterfront project in Chengdu to-date have been sold, and the company will continue to recognise development profit from these sales for fourth-quarter 2017.

Earnings per share increased to 3.73 Singapore cents from 3.28 Singapore cents in the year-ago period. Net asset value per share for the group edged up to 177.1 Singapore cents as at Sept 30, 2017, from 173.71 Singapore cents as at Dec 31, 2016.

No dividends were paid out.

The company highlighted this was its 12th consecutive quarter-on-quarter profit growth since their July 2014 initial public offering.

First Sponsor shares closed S$0.005 or 0.4 per cent up at S$1.365 on Tuesday.