I-Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong said the group remained on track with its plan of being a billion ringgit property group.
KUALA LUMPUR: I-Bhd
posted a stronger set of earnings in the nine months ended Sept 30, 2017 with unbilled sales of RM303.3mil, underpinned by the property development segment.
It announced on Monday earnings rose 10.2% to RM57.79mil in the nine months ended Sept 30, 2017 from RM52.45mil from the previous corresponding period. Revenue rose 19.7% to RM335.97mil from RM280.71mil.
In terms of profit before tax (PBT), it grew 20% to with RM78.17mil from RM65.14mil.
I-Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong said the group's investment merits and consistent delivery of strong financial performance is being largely underappreciated however, particularly in light of lacklustre market conditions.
Nonetheless, he pointed out the group remained on track with its plan of being a billion ringgit property group.
“We are very encouraged by the sustained profit growth for 2017 with PBT for this quarter (Q3 ended Sept 30, 2017) at RM28.6mil, being 7.5% higher when compared to RM26.6mil for Q2, 2017.
“This growth is on top of the 15.7% growth in PBT for Q2 2017 as compared to that for Q1, 2017,” Lim said.
The Q3 FY17 earnings were slightly lower at RM19.59mil compared with RM22.43mil a year ago. Revenue was RM105.32mil compared with RM113.58mil. Earnings per share were 1.85 sen versus 2.11 sen.
The property development segment continues to be the key driver to the performance, with the major contribution coming from i-Suite, Liberty Tower, Parisien Tower and Hyde Tower in i-City.
I-Bhd has unbilled sales of RM303.0 million at end-Sept 2017 compared to RM335mil at end-June. This drop was due to the completion of i-SOHO project.
However, the success of Hill10 as well as the continuous sale of ongoing projects would contribute towards maintaining the unbilled sales around this level by the end of the year.
He said the group was confident that this, together with the success of the Hill10 Residence development and the continuous sales of on-going projects would underpin similarly strong financial performances in the coming quarters.
I-Bhd's success was due to its business strategy where property development segment was envisaged to contribute to a steady group revenue of RM500mil per year, augmented by an RM1bil property investment portfolio when the entire development of i-City is completed.
“Given a record 90% take-up rate till date for the first of it’s kind Internet of Things (IoT)-ready home launched last quarter, Hill10 Residence is expected to deliver better results moving forward as construction progresses,” I-Bhd said.
I-Bhd's next focus is the investment property plan, where the 6,500 car parks have recently been completed and will open to public by end of the year.
At the same time, I-Bhd said it was on track to complete and open the first of the three convention centres in i-City by next year together with the completion of the shopping mall.
As at end of Q3 2017, about RM436mil had been invested for the various investment properties.
The group expects another leap in performance when financial contribution from the property investment segment come on stream.
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