KUALA LUMPUR: As it wraps its 2023 financial year, IOI Properties Group Bhd said the operating environment both within and outside Malaysia will continue to face headwinds.
However, it remains optimistic over its prospects as its wide property product offerings across three countries, recurring earnings from established property investment portfolio and improving prospects in the tourism sector is expected to provide it with sustained earnings ahead.
During the financial year, the group said it achieved a property sales figure of RM1.96bil with local projects contributing to 85% or RM1.67bil of the total sum.
The property developer said its overseas projects in China and Singapore contributed the remaining 15% of RM290.4mil of the sales.
"In Malaysia, the sales secured were largely from the Klang Valley region at RM854.1mil, led by our integrated development at IOI Resort City in Putrajaya and our matured township at Bandar Puteri Puchong in Selangor.
"Johor continues to outperform with a sales contribution of RM772mil," said IOI Properties CEO Lee Yeow Seng in a statement.
He added that the group's concerted effort to clear completed inventories during the year had yielded a reduction of RM637.9mil.
"This allows immediate monetisation of inventories into free cashflow and the group remains focused on reducing these inventories further with more promotional sales campaigns," he said.
In the fourth quarter of its financial year, IOI Properties posted a net profit of RM235.37mil, which was lower than RM292.48mil in the same quarter in 2022, giving the group an earnings per share of five sen as compared to four sen previously.
It reported revenue of RM666.46mil as compared to RM715.94mil in 4QFY22, mainly attributed to the weaker performance of the property development segment, which registered revenue of RM494.4mil as compared to RM561.1mil in the comparative quarter.
The group's property investment segment however showed revenue growth at RM119.2mil as compared to RM108.8mil previously, while the hospitality and leisure segment also recorded a positive result with RM49.5mil compared to RM42.4mil in 4QFY22.
Over the entire financial year, IOI Property registered a net profit of RM1.39bil, which was more than double RM686.74mil in the previous year.
The group's revenue in FY23 came in at RM2.59bil, which was comparable to that of FY22.
The board of directors declared an interim dividend of five sen per share, going ex on Sept 14, 2023, and payable on Sept 29, 2023.