Paramount 3Q earnings 6% higher

KUALA LUMPUR: Paramount Corp Bhd posted a 6% increase in net profit to RM15.53mil for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 against RM14.64mil it recorded a year ago.

Revenue was 23% higher at RM147.72mil compared with RM120.37mil in the same quarter last year due to higher contribution from the property and education divisions. 

Paramount’s EPS was 3.68 sen during the quarter, higher than 3.64 sen a year ago.

In its filing with Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, the company said pre-tax profit for the property division grew 16% to RM18.6mil, as a result of higher revenue of RM111.4mil due to higher sales and progressive billings from the Utropolis in Glenmarie, Shah Alam and Sekitar26 Business in Shah Alam developments. 

Meanwhile, the education division saw lower pre-tax profit at RM5.5mil due to KDU University College incurring higher losses from the onset of depreciation charges and interest costs on its new campus in Utropolis, Glenmarie this year.

Revenue for the education division was 15% higher at RM36.3mil on better contribution from  the primary and secondary school and the tertiary education due to higher new student enrolments.

For the nine-month period, group revenue grew 21% to RM428mil compared with RM352.4mil in the previous year on higher revenue contributions from the property and education divisions.

As a result, net profit PBT was marginally higher at RM52.78mil from RM52.38mil in 2014. 

Paramount expects the Malaysian property market to remain subdued due to the cautious spending sentiments and tighter lending policies. 

“Despite challenging market conditions, Paramount property’s developments have performed well with new launches enjoying take up rates of between 50% and 70%,” it said.

Paramount property recorded new sales of 374 units with a sales value of RM306.37mil in the nine-month period from its ongoing development projects, with locked in sales of RM400mil as at Sept 30, 2015.

Paramount added that the customers are taking a more cautious approach in the education sector. 

“Despite the challenges of competition, the tertiary education sector recorded a growth in new student enrolment in 2015 in comparison to the previous year mainly attributable to its value offerings in a new state-of-the-art campus in Utropolis, Glenmarie,” it said.

Barring unforeseen circumstances, it expects its performance to be better than the previous year.