KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd (Mah Sing) posted a pre-tax profit of RM92.12 million in its third quarter ended September 30, 2013 compared with RM76.11 million a year earlier.
Revenue rose to RM536.49 million from RM420.84 million previously while earnings per share grew to 5.17 sen in the period against 4.98 sen a year ago.
In a statement yesterday, the developer said it had unbilled sales of about RM4.185 billion as at September 30, 2013, which was 2.7 times the revenue recognised from the property development division in 2012.
The unbilled sales would provide strong earnings visibility going forward, the group said, adding that it was on track to achieve full-year sales target of RM3 billion in 2013.
As at September 30, 2013, Mah Sing’s net gearing stood at 0.21 times, comfortably below its internal target of 0.5 times.
“The group’s cashpile of RM788.1 million maintains its agility in land banking exercise,” said Mah Sing.
So far this year, the group has embarked on five land deals with a combined gross development value (GDV) of about RM8.948 billion, exceeding its 2012 full-year landbanking deals of RM7.382 billion by 21 per cent.
New projects acquired include D’sara Sentral in Shah Alam, M Residence 2 in Rawang and Bandar Meridin East in Iskandar Malaysia.
“This brings the group’s remaining GDV and unbilled sales to about RM28.38 billion,” said Mah Sing, adding that its focus remained on landed townships and niche developments to meet market demand.
Currently, the bulk of the group’s remaining GDV is focused in the central region, with 56 per cent concentrated in the Klang Valley and Greater Kuala Lumpur, 26 per cent in Iskandar Malaysia, 12 per cent on Penang island and six per cent in Sabah. — Bernama