Capitamalls Asia (CMA) is planning to invest nearly $1 billion in new projects in Singapore, Malaysia and China in the second half of 2010.
Liew Mun Leong, chairman of CMA, told The Business Times that capital from the sale of Clarke Quay and the successful listing of CapitaMalls Malaysia Trust boosted the company’s positive results in the second quarter, putting it in a position to pursue almost $3 billion of acquisition and development opportunities.
Between $800 million and $1 billion of the capital will be placed into new projects in Singapore, Malaysia and China in the second half, he said.
CMA, which was CapitaLand’s retail arm before it was listed, reported that its net profit in Q2 dropped 24 percent to $113.1 million from last year’s $148.2 million.
The decline in Q2 net profit was attributed to the lower revaluation gain from its ION Orchard shopping mall. But this was partly offset by profit from unit sales at The Orchard Residences, new revenue contributions from ION Orchard, higher revaluation gain on investment properties from three private equity funds in China and lower revaluation loss of investment properties from CapitaMalls Trust.
However, CMA’s revenue in the second quarter increased 32 percent to $73 million, attributed to the higher rental income from three Malaysia malls, as well as the new contributions coming from its retail mall fund management units.
For the first half of the year, the company’s net profit soared 32 percent to $209.8 million, while revenue jumped 36 percent to $147.6 million.
“Our key markets of Singapore, China and Malaysia performed strongly, driving net property income growth of 38 percent across our portfolio in the first half of this year,” said Lim Beng Chee, chief executive of CMA, who spoke to The Business Times.