Artist’s impression of the Jewel@Buangkok development. Source: CDL
Singapore-based City Developments Limited (CDL) announced on Thursday (11 August) a resilient set of financial results for the second quarter of 2016, bucking the trend of many peers who have registered declining profits and revenues due to tough macroeconomic challenges here and abroad.
Year-on-year, group net profit for the second quarter rose by 0.2 percent to $133.8 million, while revenue increased by 32.4 percent to $1.1 billion from the same period in 2015.
The better-than-expected results were attributed to revenue and profit recognition from Lush Acres, a fully-sold executive condominium (EC), following its TOP issuance in Q2.
During the first half of 2016, the developer sold 324 residential units in Singapore amounting to a total sales value of $385.7 million, up 82 percent from the 178 units sold in the first half of last year ($224 million).
Its latest residential development, the 174-unit freehold Gramercy Park condominium near Orchard Road, was soft launched in end-May. To date, 31 of the 40 units released for sale in the project’s North Tower have been sold at an average price of $2,600 psf.
It is understood that an official launch is being planned and private viewings by appointments are ongoing.
Strong sales were also seen at the 616-unit Jewel@Buangkok – which is almost fully-sold with only four units remaining, while Coco Palms – a 944-unit joint venture condo in Pasir Ris – is almost 90 percent sold.
In the coming months, the group plans to launch a new 99-year leasehold project named Forest Woods at the junction of Upper Serangoon Road and Paya Lebar Road. The 519-unit development will comprise one- to four-bedroom units and penthouses that are equipped with smart home automation features.
Based on the land cost of $710 psf, the project’s estimated selling price could be around $1,400 psf to $1,500 psf, said Wong Xian Yang, Senior Manager, Research and Consultancy at OrangeTee.
He noted that the median transacted price for the nearby Jade Residences at Lorong Lew Lian, a freehold 171-unit project, is around $1,521 psf.
Meanwhile, CDL has also been aggressively investing in overseas real estate projects, with good take-up seen at its residential developments in Australia, China and the UK.
Kwek Leng Beng, CDL’s Executive Chairman said: “We have a robust balance sheet, high liquidity and conservative accounting practices. This provides us with the firepower to continue investing overseas, given prevailing headwinds in the Singapore property market.”
CDL is looking to build a first-ever luxury care home development for elderly residents on a carpark site in central London, close to the Harrods Department Store in Knightsbridge. Planning consent has already been obtained for the £200 million (S$348.3 million) development.
The project will comprise 34 two-bedroom apartments for sale on 999-year leases. The units range from 1,250 sq ft to 2,110 sq ft in size.
Planned facilities include a luxury spa, swimming pool, private doctors’ surgery, 24-hour concierge service and dedicated nurse care rooms.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, wrote this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
