PETALING JAYA: IOI Properties Group Bhd
(IOIProp) is optimistic about its future earnings based on its property offerings overseas besides the consistent income from its investment portfolios.
Chief executive officer Lee Yeow Seng expressed confidence despite the challenging operating conditions domestically as well as in China and Singapore.
“Our wide property product offerings, recurring earnings from established property investment portfolios and improving prospects for the tourism sector will provide the group with a strong foundation for sustained earnings ahead,” he said in a statement in conjunction with the results of the company’s financial year ended June 30, 2023 (FY23).
For FY24, the property developer planned to capitalise on a diverse array of product offerings across established townships in the Klang Valley and Johor.
Supported by the resurgence in tourism-related activities, IOIProp said its hospitality and leisure segment is positioned for stronger performance in the upcoming financial year.
“Tourism Malaysia has been active in promoting the country as the destination of choice in the region and the increase in tourist arrivals had led to marked improvement in occupancy rates and the average room rates of our hotel operations,” the company noted.It added that Le Meridien at Putrajaya had achieved an average occupancy rate of 73%, while IOI City Mall phase two has reached a committed tenancy rate of 97% since its opening in August 2022.
The group’s property development segment achieved sales with contracts exchanged worth RM1.96bil in FY23.
Local projects contributed RM1.67bil, which is 85% of total sales, while overseas projects from China and Singapore contributed to the remaining 15% at RM290.4mil.
The sales secured were largely from the Klang Valley at RM854.1mil, led by its development at IOI Resort City in Putrajaya as well as its township in Bandar Puteri Puchong, Selangor. Johor continues to outperform with a sales contribution of RM772mil from established townships in Bandar Putra Kulai and Taman Kempas Utama.In total, RM1.19bil worth of properties were launched during FY23 with an average take-up rate of 69%. The group’s efforts to clear completed inventories over the last 12 months had yielded a reduction of RM637.9mil.
For the fourth quarter of its financial year 2023 (4Q23), IOIProp 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 recorded revenue of RM666.46mil as compared to RM715.94mil in 4Q22.The company has declared an interim dividend of five sen per share for FY23 – an increase of one sen compared to the dividend declared in the preceding year.
“This allows immediate monetisation of inventories into free cashflow and the group remains focused on reducing these inventories further with more promotional sales campaigns,” said Lee
“This allows immediate monetisation of inventories into free cashflow and the group remains focused on reducing these inventories further with more promotional sales campaigns,” said Lee, 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 4Q22.
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.
Its board of directors has declared an interim dividend of five sen per share for FY23, reflecting an increase of one sen compared to the dividend declared in the preceding year.
