I-Bhd’s Q1 net profit falls to RM6.43mil

I-Bhd executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong said the growth was mainly due to the increasing demand in its higher-end King of the Hill

KUALA LUMPUR: I-Bhd, which posted a net profit RM6.43mil in the first quarter ended March 31 against RM22.73mil, expects the property market to remain challenging in 2019. 

The developer saw its revenue dip to RM41.06mil from RM159.3mil a year ago. 

“Performance for the current quarter had been impacted by lower unbilled sales as there were no new launches in 2018. Hence, revenue for the current quarter is mainly from the sales of the remaining completed units.  In the corresponding financial quarter last year, the Hyde, Liberty and Parisien developments in i-City were still ongoing,” I-Bhd said in a statement. 

“The property market, in particular the residential and commercial sub-sectors, is expected to remain soft in 2019 due to the continued weak market and consumer sentiment,”  executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kim Hong.

“Nevertheless, the group is highly encouraged by the good response to the opening of the Central i-City Mall in March this year. The mall is an important component in the group’s investment property programme, one in which will see RM1bil invested in the shopping mall, data centre, car parks and offices so as to provide a strong recurring income stream,” he added. 

As at end-March, the group, inclusive of its 40% share of the mall, has invested RM620mil for the various investment properties. I-Bhd noted that many of these properties only came on stream over the past six months and have yet to make any significant contribution to the performance of the group.

“At the same time, we also have a number of on-going developments of other investment properties ie the Double Tree by Hilton hotel, the corporate office tower and second convention centre that will contribute steady recurring income streams in the near future,” it said. 

“Notwithstanding the cyclical nature of the property development segment, we are confident that our investment property portfolio will mitigate potential and/or prolonged downturns with recurring income streams, and see overall group performance a lot steadier in the (near) future.”