SINGAPORE (April 25): Ho Bee Land, the real estate development and investment company, has declared earnings of $56.3 million for the first quarter ended March 31 – more than triple of the $18.5 million it posted for 1Q16 on the back of higher revenue as well as a divestment gain.
Overall group revenue for the quarter grew 14% to $42.4 million from $37.2 million in the previous year, mainly due to sales re cognition from Ho Bee’s two residential development projects in Melbourne and Gold Coast, Australia.
Rose Court, one of the group’s commercial properties in London which it divested in Feb 2017 at £94.5 million ($168.6 million), also led to a gain on disposal of about $7.4 million based on the property’s fair valuation of £90 million.
Share of profits from associates rose 252% to $32.7 million from $9.2 million in the preceding year, mainly attributed to the group’s joint venture residential project in Shanghai.
As of end March, total shareholders’ fund stood at $2.96 billion, representing a net asset value ( NAV) of $4.45 per share.
Chairman and CEO Chua Thian Poh says the group will continue to face unprecedented political and economic uncertainties moving forward, but nonetheless is expected to remain profitable for the rest of the year due to the sustainable recurring income from its portfolio of investment properties in Singapore and UK.
“We also expect development profits from our residential projects in China and Australia,” he adds.
Shares of Ho Bee closed flat at $2.31 on Tuesday.
