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Keppel Land profit rises 10 percent on home sales, rents
Keppel Land Ltd., a property developer partly owned by the world’s largest builder of oil rigs, said second-quarter profit rose 10 percent on higher home sales and rental income from office buildings.
Net income increased to S$58.2 million (US$40.3 million), or 5 cents a share, in the three months ended June 30, the company said in a statement distributed at a briefing Wednesday. Net income a year earlier was S$52.7 million, or 5.2 cents per share, said the statement. Revenue rose 34 percent to S$249.9 million ($173 million) in the second quarter.
Singapore home purchases in the first half of the year rose to 7,367, exceeding the 4,370 units bought in the whole of 2008, according to government figures. The island’s economy expanded by an annualized 20.4 percent in the second quarter from the previous three months, the first increase in a year, prompting the government to raise its 2009 growth forecast last week.
“As the markets in the region improve, we will accelerate our project launches in Singapore, China and Vietnam to achieve faster returns,” Chief Executive Kevin Wong said at the briefing. “At the same time, both our property development and fund management divisions are actively looking for acquisition opportunities.”
Keppel Land rose 2 percent to S$2.54 in Singapore Wednesday, before the results were announced. The shares have more than doubled this year, outpacing a 39 percent increase in the benchmark Straits Times Index.
The developer said on July 12 it plans to buy the remaining shares it doesn’t already own in Evergro Properties Ltd. to expand its business in China.
thanhnien, bloomberg
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