Sino Land posts stronger gains
Underlying profit at the property giant beats analysts' estimate with a near 21pc increase in the fiscal year, buoyed by rental income
Blue-chip property developer Sino Land says its underlying profit, which excludes property revaluation gains, rose 20.6 per cent to HK$5.31 billion in the fiscal year ended June 30 from a year earlier.
However, net profit attributable to shareholders fell 6 per cent to HK$9.91 billion from HK$10.54 billion last year because of a decrease in the amount of gains from revaluations of investment properties.
The result is slightly better than a forecast by analysts, who prefer to look at underlying profit to gauge the performance of the city's property companies because regular revaluations of investment properties distort the bottom line.
Contributions from property sales, including those of associates recognised by the company, totalled HK$3.02 billion, down from HK$3.24 billion in the previous year.
But net rental income increased 13.6 per cent to HK$2.54 billion. The increase was mainly due to higher rental rates on renewals as well as improved occupancy in the existing rental portfolio.
Turnover rose 41.2 per cent to HK$8.4 billion from HK$5.94 billion in the previous year.
Directors declared a final dividend of 36 HK cents a share. Together with the interim dividend of 10 HK cents a share, the total payout for the year is 46 HK cents a share, compared with 40.91 HK cents a year ago.