S P Setia 3Q net profit at RM91m

PETALING JAYA: Property developer S P Setia Bhd saw a marginal 4% rise in its 3QFY11 ended July 31 net profit to RM91.2 million from RM87 million a year earlier. Revenue was up 40% to RM583.5 million in the same period.

"The profit after tax for 3QFY10 included a gain from the disposal of the Tesco hypermarket in Setia Alam, an investment property of the group. The higher profit for the current quarter is mainly from sales of residential and commercial properties in the Klang Valley and Johor Bahru," S P Setia said in its announcement to Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, Sept 22.

For the nine months, S P Setia's net profit jumped 40% to RM243.57 million from RM173.99 million in 2010, with earnings per share increasing from 11.58 sen to 14.62 sen. Revenue was up 35% to RM1.6 billion.

S P Setia noted that the group continues to experience a strong sales momentum in 3Q with total of RM729 million in sales and cumulative nine-month sales of RM2.137 billion. "This represents the group's strongest ever nine-month sales, surpassing the previous high achieved in FY10 by 19%. As at Aug 31, the group's sales for the first ten months of FY11 of RM2.32 billion have already surpassed the group's full-year sales achieved in every year of its history," it said.

"Management is therefore highly confident that the group's FY11 sales target of RM3 billion will be met," it added.

Projects that contributed to sales are Setia Alam and Setia Eco Park at Shah Alam, SetiaWalk at Pusat Bandar Puchong, Setia Sky Residences in Jalan Tun Razak, Bukit Indah, Setia Indah, Setia Tropika and Setia Eco Gardens in Johor Bahru, Setia Pearl Island and Setia Vista in Penang. Apart from property development, the group's construction and wood-based manufacturing activities also contributed to the earnings.

S P Setia's stock ended 13 sen lower on Thursday at RM3.06. Its net assets per share stood at RM1.81 as at July 31.