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Thread: Metro to launch S'pore residential project this year

  1. #1
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    Default Metro to launch S'pore residential project this year

    http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...-year-20130530

    COMPANIES

    Metro to launch S'pore residential project this year

    Published on May 30, 2013

    By Melissa Tan


    METRO Holdings will launch its first Singapore residential project in nearly two decades later this year and plans to further expand its footprint in China, it said yesterday.

    A site at Prince Charles Crescent, which Metro is jointly developing with Wing Tai and UE E&C, will go on the market by the end of the third quarter, chairman Winston Choo said at a results briefing.

    The project's ground-breaking is scheduled for June 4 and the developers are looking to launch it at $1,500 psf at least, he said.

    In China, Metro has an effective 30 per cent stake in a huge mixed development in Jiangxi province called Nanchang Fashion Mark. The development sits on a 269,455 sq m site and is expected to be completed in December 2017. The ground-breaking for the site will be around September or October this year.

    This is a joint venture with Hong Kong-listed Top Spring International Holdings, a real estate developer in China. Metro has injected $48 million of equity into the project, Mr Choo said in a statement yesterday.

    Director Gerald Ong also yesterday ruled out a Reit, noting that the firm was "sitting on a lot of cash" and continued to recycle cash. He said it would not consider spinning off its properties into a Reit until its balance sheet was full.

    The company yesterday suffered an 81 per cent plunge in fourth-quarter net profit year-on-year to $14.9 million.

    This was mainly because the bottom line in the corresponding period a year earlier was inflated by a one-off gain of $98.7 million from the sale of Metro City Beijing.

    Revenue for the three months ended March 31 dipped 1.1 per cent to $47.6 million from the preceding year.

    Though retail sales grew 5.8 per cent year-on-year to $32.5 million in the fourth quarter, it was outweighed by a 13.2 per cent fall in property revenue to $15.1 million.

    For the full year, earnings tumbled 29.5 per cent year-on-year to $64.8 million while revenue stayed flat at $187.1 million. Higher sales from its retail stores in Singapore and Indonesia offset a decline in rental income from its property arm.

    Metro said yesterday that it has no plans to add more retail outlets in Singapore but wants to expand in Indonesia.

    Earnings per share for the year stood at 7.8 cents, down from 11.3 cents the preceding year. Net asset value per share was $1.383 as at March 31 this year, up slightly from $1.346 as at March 31 last year. The group declared a final dividend of two cents per share plus a special final dividend of two cents per share. Metro's share price fell 3.5 cents to 97 cents yesterday.

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  2. #2
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    Default Metro's Q4 earnings plunge in absence of disposal gain

    http://www.businesstimes.com.sg/arch...-gain-20130530

    Published May 30, 2013

    Metro's Q4 earnings plunge in absence of disposal gain

    Many developments coming onstream in FY14

    By Lee Meixian


    DESPITE steady revenue and improved gross margins, property and retail group Metro Holdings ended its fiscal fourth quarter with an 81 per cent year-on-year drop in net earnings to $14.9 million.

    This was due to the January-March fourth quarter registering a a sharp decline in "other income" to $5.4 million, from the previous fourth quarter's $102.1 million, which included a $98.7 million gain from the disposal of the group's 50 per cent stake in an entity which owned Metro City Beijing.

    Metro's Q4 revenue dipped 1.1 per cent to $47.6 million from a year ago, due to lower rental income after it sold its stake in Metro City Beijing. This was, however, offset by higher sales from its retail division, it said. Gross profit rose 19.67 per cent as cost of revenue dropped 12 per cent to $27.7 million.

    Earnings per share for the quarter was 7.8 cents, down from 11.3 cents in the previous year.

    For the full year, net profit fell 29.5 per cent to $64.8 million. Revenue was steady, rising 0.07 per cent to $187 million.

    Full-year revenue for the group's core property division contracted 12.9 per cent to $58.3 million, but turnover was bolstered by higher retail sales on improved consumer sentiment, particularly in Singapore and Indonesia, Metro said.

    Chairman Winston Choo said several of Metro's property developments are coming on-stream in FY14, including the residential sale launches for the Prince Charles Crescent project in Singapore and the Nanchang project in China.

    Metro is also expecting a $29.6 million gain from the disposal of its warehouse property at Pasir Panjang in Singapore, expected to be completed in FY14, he said.

    While the retail division seeks to maintain its sales performance, he warned that volatile market conditions are likely to result in changes to the fair value of the group's investments in property Reits. The group also remains subject to significant currency translation adjustments on foreign operations.

    The group proposed dividends totalling 4 cents per share, comprising a special final dividend of 2 cents and a final dividend of 2 cents. It had paid total dividends of 6 cents in the previous year, comprising a special final dividend of 4 cents and a final dividend of 2 cents.

    Metro closed 3.5 per cent lower at $0.97 yesterday.

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