By Sharina Ahmad
UEM Sunrise Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2019 (4QFY19) rose to RM126.2 mil from RM19.7 mil a year ago on the back of higher revenue of RM1.2 bil versus RM752.8 mil.
The company’s full FY19 net profit jumped 42% to RM2.9 bil from RM2.04 bil mainly driven by the completion and settlement of Aurora Melbourne Central and Conservatory in Melbourne, Australia. On the local front, the construction progress of Residensi Solaris Parq, Residensi Astrea, and Kiara Kasih are underway,replenishing the revenue of previously completed projects.
In a Bursa Malaysia filing on Feb 24, UEM Sunrise managing director/CEO Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib said: “We are pleased with our results, having improved our revenue by 42% to RM2.9 bil, largely supported by the strong settlement of Aurora Melbourne Central which accounted for RM1.3 bil of the total revenue, and a settlement rate of 97% to-date.
“We still have around A$36 mil pending settlement in addition to A$125 mil from the en-bloc disposal of its serviced residential component to Scape Australia Management Pty Ltd, the largest asset owner and investor of the purpose-built student accommodation sector in Australia, which is expected to complete in April 2020.”
Anwar Syahrin also said the company is planning to retain the retail component valued tentatively at A$42 mil for recurring income purposes.
The conservatory is 99% sold with a settlement rate of 89%. Around A$43 mil is still pending settlement.
“We are confident of achieving a full settlement for both Aurora Melbourne Central and Conservatory by year-end,” he said.
Anwar Syahrin said the company’s gearing has also improved tremendously with the completion of the Australian projects as the financing for both have been fully settled, improving the net gearing to 0.32x.
“Our prudent management of cash gave us a healthy cash flow, allowing us to focus on other potential investments since we are in the position to take on bigger and more profitable ventures.”
As for sales, he said contribution for the period came mainly from local developments due to the cancellation of Mayfair in August last year.
“Despite the exclusion of Mayfair, we managed to rake in RM1.1 bil worth of local sales which we see as positive in light of the current property market sentiment. Furthermore, 35% of our total sales were from completed properties, proving that our inventory monetisation efforts have been successful as our inventories declined by 21% from FY2018,” Anwar Syahrin said.
The biggest interest was seen for its high-rise residential development Verdi Eco-dominium in Symphony Hills, Cyberjaya which saw a reduction of 51% in its inventory.
“The Home Ownership Campaign was also beneficial as it contributed 43% to our total sales. This year, we are targeting total sales of RM2 bil including the disposal of industrial plots in the Southern Industrial Logistics Cluster (SILC),” he said. – Feb 24, 2020
