Sunway REIT net profit declines to RM420m

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): Sunway Real Estate Investment Trust’s (Sunway REIT) net profit for the financial year ended June 30 (FY12) fell 24% to RM420.46 million or 15.62 sen a share from RM553.66 million for FY11. Earnings had declined due to lower revaluation surplus on investment properties.

Revenue rose to RM406.43 million from RM327.42 million previously. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Sunway REIT said the retail segment’s revenue rose 23% to RM292.3 million due to a rental reversion in Sunway Pyramid Mall and better contribution from Sunway Putra Mall.

Meanwhile, it said the hotel segment registered gross revenue of RM71.6 million, an increase of 28.6% compared with FY11. “The strong revenue growth was primarily contributed by Sunway Putra Hotel of RM9.1 million and hotel properties located in Sunway Resort City of RM7.3 million,” it said.

Sunway REIT said the office segment for FY12 recorded gross revenue of RM42.6 million, up 24.6% from FY11, and attributable to the addition of Sunway Putra Tower, which mitigated the drop in occupancy at Sunway Tower. On prospect, it said domestic demand would provide the support to sustain the economy amid softer external demand.

Sunway REIT said it will continue with its capital management programme in view of the accommodative monetary policy and is committed to distribute 100% of its distributable net income for FY13. Dividends for FY12 stood at 7.5 sen a share, higher than 6.58 sen in the previous year.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on Aug 8, 2012.