One-off losses hit CapitaLand's Q4

THE government should consider relaxing the time frame within which developers are required to sell their units, said Wen Khai Meng, chief executive officer of CapitaLand Singapore, at CapitaLand's results briefing yesterday, during which the group revealed that its fourth-quarter net profit fell 45.6 per cent - from $262.7 million to $142.9 million.

The fall was largely due to one-off losses and higher impairments. Excluding the one-off Australand divestment loss (CapitaLand divested a 20 per cent stake in Australand in November while retaining a 39.12 per cent stake), net profit would have inched up 0.4 per cent to $263.7 million.

Revenue for the three months ended December dipped 2.3 per cent, from $1.11 billion to $1.09 billion. This was due to the Australand divestment and lower revenue from Singapore development projects, mitigated by an increase in revenue from the group's development projects in China and Vietnam, as well as higher rental revenue from its shopping malls.