CapitaLand full year net profit up 21% on-year

SINGAPORE: Property developer CapitaLand achieved net profit of S$1.27 billion for the full year ended December 31, a 21 per cent rise on-year.


This marks the fifth consecutive year that CapitaLand has delivered net profit exceeding S$1 billion.

The firm said the strong performance was due to contributions across the Group's businesses in the core markets of Singapore, China and Australia.

It also came on the back of sales of residential and commercial projects, higher fair value gains for investment properties, and lower impairment charges.

The property giant also reported a better-than-expected fourth quarter net profit of S$552.1 million although the figure was was 41.1 per cent lower from a year ago.

The net profit figure is higher than the average of S$231 million estimate from several analysts polled by the media.

The decline in fourth quarter profit was due to smaller one-off gains compared to 2009, when it benefited from gains from the listing of CapitaMalls Asia, its shopping mall business unit.

Group revenue for the three months to December rose 36.5 per cent to S$1.14 billion.

During the quarter, the Group recorded portfolio gains of S$194.2 million mainly from the divestment of a majority stake in Raffles City Changning and Ascott's injection of 28 serviced residence properties into Ascott Residence Trust.

Going forward, CapitaLand CEO Liew Mun Leong said the group plans to launch 1,700 homes in Singapore and about 4,000 homes in China this year.

He added that Ascott, CapitaLand's serviced residence business unit, will redeploy S$1 billion into new investments in key cities in Asia and Europe, and is on track to achieve its target of 40 thousand units by 2015.

- CNA/fa