According to Keppel Land, its Q3 net profit increased by 70 percent from $46.2 million in 2008 to $78.5 million, as it recorded more revenue from its projects.
Its revenue rose to $227.8 million, up by 23 percent from $185.8 million in the third quarter of 2008. Such growth in profits was mainly attributed to progressive revenue recognition from the completely sold “The Sixth Avenue Residences,” a project in Singapore, which obtained in August 2009 its temporary occupancy permit.
Larger revenue was also generated from other overseas projects such as The Estella in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam and China.
From a restated 4.6 cents earnings per share in the third quarter of 2009 it increased to 6.8 cents.
“Market confidence strengthened further in Q3 2009 as the Singapore economy emerged out of recession,” said KepLand in a statement.
KepLand launched Caribbean Residences and Madison Residences, as it capitalized on demand for higher- and mid-end homes. It also had its soft-launching of The Promont and similar with the first two projects, it also enjoyed strong take-up rate in the third quarter of this year. To date, the developer has sold a total of 240 homes in Singapore.
The buying sentiment in the prime markets of the company across Asia also strengthened. By the end of September 2009, KepLand sold over 2,600 homes, mostly in China.
Kepland saw a 9 percent increase in its net profit from $159.1 million in 2008 to $173.6 million for 9 months, which ended on 30 September 2009. Compared to the previous year’s generated revenue of $644.8 million, the revenue from the first quarter to the third quarter of 2009 slightly dropped by 3 percent to $623.4 million. Such decline was largely attributed to the completion of some projects during the previous fiscal year.
From January to September 2009, the net debt of KepLand declined by $765 million. By end-September of this year, KepLand had 0.19 debt-to-equity ratio, compared to the 0.52 debt-to-equity ratio by end-December of last year. This decrease was largely due to the proceeds from the rights issue in June 2009.
“With a strengthened balance sheet after its rights issue raised proceeds of about $700 million, Keppel Land is well-positioned to capitalise on opportunities to grow through acquisitions,” said KepLand.
In Singapore, KepLand will keep its focus on the development of commercial and residential projects. Overseas, the group will focus on developing selective gateway city office, township and residential projects in high growth markets like India, Vietnam and China.
Kepland said that the fund management vehicle of the group, Alpha Investment Partners and K-Reit Asia are likewise pursuing prospects for development.