Mah Sing Group records higher pre-tax profit

KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd recorded a higher pre-tax profit of RM177.87 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010 compared with RM144.24 million in 2009.

However, its pre-tax profit for the last quarter of the year declined to RM39.21 million from RM48.46 million in 2009. Revenue for the fourth quarter rose to RM299.28 million from RM248.87
million in the same quarter in 2009.

Its revenue for the full financial year increased to RM1.11 billion from RM701.56 million.

In a statement here on feb 25, Mah sing said the better results for the financial period were due to progressive recognition of development revenue and profit contribution from its property development activities carried out in Kuala Lumpur, the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Bahru.

It said the ongoing projects included the Klang Valley residential projects, with commercial and industrial projects also being contributors to the group's profit and revenue.

The group broke the RM1 billion mark to achieve record property sales of RM1.5 billion, which exceeded its initial internal target by 50 per cent.

"The fast take-up rate, improved operation efficiency, timely execution and delivery of quality property units, ensured the group's balance sheets remained strong with a net gearing at 0.21 times," it added.

This year, the group has target land acquisitions which can potentially yield more than RM7 billion in gross development value (GDV) potential, compared to 10 land banking transactions in 2010 with a combined GDV of approximately RM4 billion.

"We have the balance sheet to fund the acquisitions but these must be good land which fit our business model and allows us to add value," said its managing director and group chief executive, Tan Sri Datuk Sri Leong Hoy Kum.

Meanwhile, for the sales target, the group has expected more than RM2 billion for 2011 and is confident of achieving this target as it has notched RM363 million in sales for the first two months of this year.

The group looks forward to a good year for the Malaysian property market and key drivers that will continue to sustain and drive this sector will be the young population base, new household formation, high saving rates, low unemployment market, strong economic growth and good housing affordability due to low mortgage rates. -- Bernama