Highlight SP Setia 2Q profit falls 21% y-o-y to RM74m, pays 4 sen dividend

by **Cals** Thu 12 Jun 2014, 03:05

Highlight SP Setia 2Q profit falls 21% y-o-y to RM74m, pays 4 sen dividend

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Ahmad Naqib Idris Adzman Shah of theedgemalaysia.com

Wednesday, 11 June 2014 18:38

KUALA LUMPUR (June 11): SP Setia Bhd’s net profit fell 21% to RM74.3 million in its second quarter ended April 30, 2014 (2QFY14) from RM94.2 million a year earlier.

Profit fell on higher minority interest, and as the property developer factored in the impact of the goods and services tax (GST), and long-term incentive plan (LTIP) expenses for employees in its financials.

Revenue, however, rose 26% to RM952.4 million from RM753.7 million, SP Setia told the stock exchange today.

"The recognition of GST financial impact has inevitably reduced the overall profit margin of those launched and sold development parcels. The balance of the GST financial impact will be reflected in future financial periods in accordance to future work progress," SP Setia said.

SP Setia said “excluding the GST financial impact and LTIP expense, the profit attributable to shareholders in the current quarter increased by 14.3%".

The company said profit after tax rose to RM118.4 million from RM105.6 million. Minority interest came to RM44.1 million versus RM11.4 million.

For the six months, SP Setia's net profit was lower at RM171 million compared with RM187.4 million in the previous year’s corresponding period. Revenue rose to RM1.67 billion from RM1.49 billion.

Despite lower profit in 2QFY14, SP Setia plans to pay a dividend of four sen a share for the quarter.

Going forward, the group said its prospects remained positive, supported by a strong cash flow and unbilled property sales of RM11.2 billion.

“The property sector will remain challenging for the remaining periods of FY2014 due to the various cooling off measures in place.

“However, with Malaysia’s economy proving to be resilient with a GDP of 6.2% in the first quarter of the calendar year, the group remains confident that demand for affordable and quality properties will remain strong,” said SP Setia.