BT : Yanlord posts 9% rise in Q2 profits to $99.9m

Business Times - 12 Aug 2010

Yanlord posts 9% rise in Q2 profits to $99.9m

By LYNETTE KHOO

YANLORD Group posted a 9 per cent rise in net profit for the second quarter ended June 30 to $99.9 million, citing an increase in gross floor area (GFA) delivered.

Revenue grew one per cent from a year ago to $622.1 million during the quarter, while gross profit margin inched up 1.3 percentage points to 63.4 per cent, the China-based high-end residential developer said. Besides the continuing delivery of its existing project at Yanlord Riverside City (Phase 3) in Shanghai, the group also delivered two new projects namely Yunjie Riverside Gardens (Phase 2) in Shanghai and Yanlord Peninsula (Apartment-Phase 2) in Suzhou in the second quarter.

This raised its GFA delivered in the second quarter by 7.3 per cent to 132,638 sq m. Average selling price held steady at 23,156 yuan per sq m, compared to 23,152 yuan per sq m in the Q2 last year.

On a fully diluted basis, the group's Q2 earnings per share was 4.76 cents, compared to 4.69 cents for the same quarter last year.

Riding on improved GFA delivered, Yanlord's revenue grew in terms of Chinese yuan but the strengthening Sing dollar against the yuan resulted in its revenue dipping one per cent from a year ago to $795.2 million.

Yanlord chairman and CEO Zhong Sheng Jian noted that demand for high quality residential developments in China continues to drive the group's revenue performance.

He said the group will continue to focus on developing quality residential apartments in prime locations within high growth Chinese cities.

In the second half, Yanlord will launch a new batch of its existing projects, namely Yanlord G53 Apartment in Nanjing, Yanlord Townhouse in Shanghai and Yanlord New City Gardens (Phase 2) in Zhuhai. It will also commence the construction of Yanlord Sunland Gardens (Phase 1) in Shanghai and Yanlord Yangtze Riverbay Town (Phase 3) in Nanjing.

As at June 30, the group had total pre-contracted sales of about $1.13 billion which will be progressively recognised as revenue in subsequent financial periods. Its cash and cash balances grew to $1.43 billion as at June 30 from $1.27 billion a year ago, boosted by the issue of US$300 million senior notes in April.

Prior to the release of its Q2 results, Yanlord's shares slipped 1.64 per cent lower to $1.80 by market close.

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