Highlight Mah Sing 4Q net profit rises 28% y-o-y, proposes 8 sen dividend

by **Cals** Fri 28 Feb 2014, 14:28

Highlight Mah Sing 4Q net profit rises 28% y-o-y, proposes 8 sen dividend

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Ahmad Naqib Idris Adzman Shah of theedgemalaysia.com

Friday, 28 February 2014 14:01

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): Property developer Mah Sing Group Bhd reported a 28% growth in fourth quarter net profit from a year earlier as revenue rose.

In a statement to the exchange today, Mah Sing said net profit grew to RM70.7 million in the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2013. Revenue was higher at RM570.2 million compared with RM441.4 million.

Full-year net profit rose to RM280.6 million from RM230.6 million a year earlier. Revenue climbed to RM2.01 billion from RM1.78 billion.

Mah Sing has proposed a first and final single-tier dividend of eight sen a share.

In a separate statement, Mah Sing said the group had increased its unbilled sales to a record high of RM4.4 billion, after achieving its targeted RM3 billion sales during the year.

The firm said it had increased the number of projects in the medium-range market.

“These offerings in the right locations, coupled with good township and mixed development planning, concept and designs in line with market trends contributed to the strong sales,” said the group.

During the year, Mah Sing had also acquired six new landbanks in strategic hotspots within Greater Kuala Lumpur, Klang Valley, Penang, Iskandar Malaysia and Kota Kinabalu.

The total gross development value of the new landbanks adds up to approximately RM9.35 billion, according to Mah Sing.

Although the group has expanded its operations, Mah Sing said its balance sheets remained strong with a cash pile of RM822.3 million and a low net gearing of 0.16 times.

“The group is in a strong position to continue its expansion drive via landbanking exercises and development activities,” the group said.

Looking ahead, Mah Sing is confident of its performance in 2014, as its recent project previews of Southville City@KL South and D’sara Sentral in Sungai Buloh are well-received.

“In line with demand trend and supply-demand gap for such properties, 87% of the target residential launches for 2014 comprise mainly mass to mid-segment products prices at RM1 million and below,” it said.

Besides that, the group expects property buying interest to heighten in the second half of 2014, in anticipation of the implementation of the goods and services tax next year.

Infrastructure improvements such as the MRT and LRT extensions would also continue to spur interest in properties in the Greater Kuala Lumpur area, it said.