Roxy-Pacific Q2 net profit falls 16.2% on higher costs, income drop

MAINBOARD-LISTED property company Roxy-Pacific Holdings saw earnings decline in the second quarter, according to results released on Wednesday, on a mix of higher costs and drops in both operating income and contributions from associates.

Net profit declined by 16.2 per cent on the year before to S$4.21 million for the three months to June 30, even as revenue increased by 38.9 per cent to S$51.4 million, on revenue recognition from The Hensley in Sydney, as well as The Navian and Harbour View Gardens in Singapore.

Still, the rise in cost of sales outpaced revenue growth, while other operating income was nearly halved, on a higher fair-value gain at an investment property in the year-ago period. Non-controlling interests posted a loss of S$117,000 on showflat costs for View At Kismis.

Meanwhile, Roxy-Pacific's share of associates' profits slipped amid losses on showflat expenses incurred for Wilshire Residences and NEU At Novena, as well as the absence of fair-value gain on investment properties clocked in the previous year.

Earnings per share was 0.32 Singapore cent for the quarter, down from 0.38 Singapore cent the previous year, while net asset value stood at 37.83 Singapore cents a share, against 38.06 Singapore cents as at Dec 31, 2018.

For the half-year, net profit fell by 26.7 per cent to S$9.33 million, while revenue rose by 68 per cent to S$139.9 million.

The bulk of revenue for the quarter came from the core property development business, with single-digit declines in contributions from hotel ownership and property investment.

But chairman and chief executive Teo Hong Lim said that the group expects "stronger recurring income from our hotel ownership segment, as our newer assets under our self-managed hospitality brand, Noku hotels, mature and stabilise". There are two Noku hotels in Japan, as well as one in the Maldives, and another in Thailand scheduled to open in 2021.

Roxy-Pacific, which has developed properties in Singapore, Malaysia and Australia, also inked a deal with Park Hotel Group in March 2019 to open a hotel in Melbourne.

Meanwhile, with demand in the Singapore private home market hit by cooling measures in July 2018, the group said in its outlook statement that it would prioritise moving units, "with plans to launch its remaining land bank sites in the next few quarters depending on market conditions".

It launched Dunearn 386 and View at Kismis, both in Bukit Timah, in July 2019.

"On the replenishment of land bank sites, the group has adopted a prudent approach with a focus on strategically located and attractive development sites," Roxy-Pacific added in its statement.

The board has recommended an interim dividend of 0.195 Singapore cent a share, unchanged from the same period the year before.

Roxy-Pacific closed up half a Singapore cent or 1.3 per cent to S$0.39 on Wednesday before the results were released.