Keppel Corporation’s net profit in Q4 2013 rose by nine percent to S$332 million, bringing the year’s total to about S$1.41 billion compared to S$1.91 billion in fiscal year 2012.
The significant drop in earnings was due to the higher profits posted in FY2012, which include one-off earnings from property sales.
"Whilst net profit for 2013 is 26 percent lower than for 2012, the prior year’s numbers were boosted by the completion and sale of units at Reflections. The net contribution to the bottom line from that sale, as well as disposal of an equity investment amounted to over S$650 million," said company CEO Loh Chin Hua.
As such, earnings per share for FY2013 declined 27 percent to 78.2 cents from 106.8 cents in 2012.
Meanwhile, its subsidiary Keppel Land sold more than 4,400 residential units in 2013. Most of the units were sold in China, despite the property cooling measures there and in Singapore. Comparatively, this is nearly twice the number sold in 2012.
"The cooling markets also presented good opportunities, which were seized by Keppel Land in the form of two residential sites for landed homes in China and another prime residential site in Tiong Bahru in Singapore," Loh added.
Christopher Chitty, Senior Content Producer at PropertyGuru edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email christopher@propertyguru.com.sg
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