Singapore shopping mall developer CapitaMalls Asia has reported a net profit of S$205.4 million for its fourth quarter ended December – up 42.6 per cent from the previously-reported S$144 million last year.
In a stock exchange filing, the company said revenue grew S$66.3 million from S$55.2 million in the same period last year, driven by strong growth in markets like Singapore, China and Malaysia.
In particular, rental revenue from Queensbay Mall in Malaysia acquired in April last year and higher income from fund management entities boosted the earnings.
For the full year, CapitaMalls Asia booked an 8.1 per cent increase in its net profit to S$456.0 million from S$421.9 million.
With more than 50 per cent of its China malls expected to be operational this year, the mall developer said 2012 will be “an inflection point”.
It has 56 malls in China with 42 currently in operation. It said it will continue to focus on its 3 key markets in Singapore, China and Malaysia
“We target to open nine malls this year – seven in China and two in Singapore. With our strong balance sheet and low gearing, we remain ready and flexible to capitalise on acquisition opportunities,” said Lim Beng Chee, chief executive officer of CapitaMalls Asia.
He added: “We have cash of last year of close to a billion and we raised another S$400,000 in the beginning of the year, so we have about S$1.4 billion cash; that is actually sufficient for us have a strong balance sheet to grow the business.”
The board of CapitaMalls Asia has proposed a final dividend of 1.5 Singapore cents per share.
Including the interim dividend of 1.5 Singapore cents declared in July 2011, the proposed total dividend for full year 2011 is 3.0 Singapore cents.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 10 Feb 2012