KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): Paramount Corp Bhd's net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) surged almost seven-fold to RM24.35 million from RM3.53 million a year ago.

In a bourse filing, the group said its quarterly revenue soared 68.5% to RM317.34 million from RM188.39 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

Paramount said the group's improved 4QFY21 performance was mainly due to higher profit contribution from its property division, a one-off gain upon consolidation of a subsidiary, as well as a lower share-based payment to staff and executive directors from the investment and other division.

The group has proposed a final dividend of three sen per share for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21).

Meanwhile, for the full FY21, Paramount posted a net profit of RM28.54 million, a 94% drop from RM485.39 million in FY20, when it booked a one-off gain of RM462.7 million from the completion of the divestment of its pre-tertiary education business.

Its annual revenue increased 14.8% to RM681.35 million from RM593.56 million a year prior, mainly on the back of its property division's 15% improved revenue contribution of RM672.1 million compared with RM584.4 million in FY20.

In terms of its prospects, Paramount said the group remains cautious in the early stage of the Covid-19 endemic, adding that the business environment is expected to remain challenging for FY22 given the headwinds faced by the property sector.

In a statement, Paramount group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew said headwinds for the property sector such as uncertainties arising from possible new variants of Covid-19, potential interest rate hikes, escalating prices of building materials and the shortages of construction workers could dampen the property sector's recovery.

"In the meantime, we look forward to launching six projects in 2022 [including new phases of existing projects with an estimated gross development value of RM1.3 billion]," he added.

Paramount also noted that it will maintain its strong financial resilience and optimise its operations to navigate through these uncertain times.

Paramount's share price closed unchanged at 67.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM417.96 million.

Edited by Kathy Fong

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