KUALA LUMPUR: S P Setia Bhd has registered record sales of RM6.27 billion for the first 10 months of its 2013 financial year ending Oct 31 (FY13), which has surpassed its FY13 target of RM5.5 billion.  

For its third quarter (3QFY13), S P Setia’s net profit was RM101.88 million, a 1.47% increase from RM100.40 million for 3QFY12. Its revenue of RM761.51 million was 16.4% higher than RM654.19 million in 3QFY12.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the property group said it incurred a lower pre-tax profit due to the RM11.5 million worth of share-based payment for its employees’ long-term incentive programme launched in May this year.

However, this was offset by a higher deferred taxation in the quarter.

For the nine months (9MFY13), S P Setia’s net profit grew by 8.91% to RM290.57 million, or 12.7 sen per share, compared with RM266.79 million in the previous corresponding period. At the same time, its top line grew by 22.54% to RM2.16 billion from RM1.76 billion.

As at Aug 31, total international sales amounted to RM2.53 billion, with RM1.25 billion contributed by S P Setia’s 40% share of the sales of the Battersea Power Station joint-venture project in central London.

The group is currently involved in the redevelopment of the British landmark with Sime Darby Property Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund.

Two other overseas projects — Fulton Lane in Melbourne and Eco Sanctuary in Singapore — also contributed significantly to S P Setia sales. Fulton Lane registered sales of RM409 million and Eco Sanctuary secured RM877 million.

“Fulton Lane’s success spurred us to look for a second venture in Melbourne and we recently held a preview of Parque Melbourne with overwhelming response,” S P Setia president and CEO Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin said in a statement, adding that initial bookings were very positive.

He said the majority of Eco Sanctuary units, launched at the beginning of the year, were sold to Singaporean purchasers.

The Malaysian market remains S P Setia’s main income contributor. Up to Aug 31, it raked in RM3.74 billion from sales of its local projects, which was higher than RM3.55 billion in FY12.

Despite the growth in sales, Liew said this year was tough for property developers.

“2013 has not been an easy year for Malaysian developers given the increasingly cautious financing environment and the lower loan-to-value ratios adopted by banks, particularly for third home loans.

“We managed to outperform the market by adapting our launches to meet the increasing demand for affordable homes within our own matured townships while launching upgraded products in new development corridors to capture new market share,” he said.

Liew said S P Setia’s Klang Valley projects contributed RM2.05 billion in sales where launches of affordable apartments in its matured Setia Alam and Putrajaya township in Precinct 15 were snapped up by first-time homeowners.

He said the group is confident of its continuous strong performance before the end of FY13. “We target to convert the bookings from the highly successful launch of Parque Melbourne into sales before the end of this financial year.”

S P Setia will also launch terraced and cluster houses at its Setia EcoHill to meet demand for affordable landed homes.

“Together with the sales already secured this year, these new launches will set up a very healthy pipeline for the group to carry forward into FY14 when market conditions are expected to be more challenging overall,” said Liew.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on September 26, 2013.