Fragrance Group Q3 revenue sinks but profit jumps to S$98.4m on fair value gain

PROPERTY developer Fragrance Group on Thursday night posted a net profit of S$98.4 million for the third quarter, which is about 41 times that of the S$2.4 million profit in the year-ago period.

This was despite revenue tumbling 64.6 per cent for the quarter.

The improved earnings for the three months ended Sept 30 came on the back of S$110.9 million in other operating income, compared to other operating loss of S$104,000 a year ago.

This was largely thanks to a fair value gain on Fragrance's investment property located on Lot 01958P MK01. The group obtained a grant of provisional permission for a hotel development on the site, and the change of use substantially increased the property's underlying land value, which was accounted as a fair value gain of some S$117 million in Q3.

Earnings per share stood at 1.46 Singapore cents for the quarter, up from 0.03 cent a year ago.

Revenue sank 64.6 per cent to S$15.8 million, down from S$44.7 million in the corresponding period last year, weighed down by lower contribution from the property development segment, which fell 89.8 per cent on the year.

Two new development projects in Singapore, Jervois Treasures and Urban Treasures, are in their early stages with no revenue contribution to-date, Fragrance said on Thursday.

Revenue from the commercial investment segment decreased by 6.2 per cent as the Tower 15 property's redevelopment plans are in progress.

No dividend was declared for the quarter, unchanged from a year ago.

Shares of Fragrance were down 0.1 Singapore cent or 0.8 per cent to 12.6 cents at Thursday's close, before the results were released.