Citibank Plaza raises Great Eagle to $637m

Great Eagle Holdings saw a 29.7 per cent rise in net profit to $637.1 million for the six months to March 31, boosted by an exceptional gain from sales of office floors at Citibank Plaza.

Partial completion of the $820 million sale of floors at the building in Central contributed the bulk of the $339.46 million exceptional profit.

The exceptional gain accounted for about 42 per cent of the group's pre-tax profit.

Before exceptional items, the company's operating profit was up 18.6 per cent to $454.32 million.

Earnings per share were $1.42, up 29.1 per cent from the previous year's $1.10.

Turnover for the six months declined about 6 per cent to $1.33 billion, from last year's $1.43 billion.