This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 23, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: FCW Holdings Bhd does not expect to repeat its stellar performance in the last financial year ended June 30, 2015 (FY15) in this current financial year amid the sluggish economy.

Its executive director Datuk Anderson Thor Poh Seng said contribution from its joint venture (JV) property development project dubbed 368 Residences in Jalan Segambut here will also only be coming in towards end of FY16.

FCW, which expects contribution from 368 Residences to be significant in future years, is targeting to launch Phase 1 of the project in the third quarter of 2016, said Thor.

“But our financial year ends in June, so the group will not be seeing much improvement in revenue compared with FY15,” he told reporters after the group’s annual general meeting (AGM) yesterday.

FCW’s net profit rose nearly sevenfold to RM54.14 million for the financial year ended June 30, 2015 (FY15) from RM6.87 million in FY14, mainly due to a one-off gain on disposal of an associate company, Federal Power Sdn Bhd, for RM2.3 million in 3QFY15.

Revenue for FY15, however, fell 4.5% to RM26.11 million from RM27.34 million a year ago.

Thor said the group will be able to sustain its revenue for FY16, which will largely be contributed by its manufacturing business, but that the profit performance will “definitely not be better than FY15”.

“We hope that after the launch of our property, the contribution from the project will start to come in. We will see better contribution in FY17,” he added.

FCW is developing the 368 Residences project in a JV with IJM Land Bhd on a 50:50 basis.

Thor said the RM1.5 billion gross development value (GDV) project will be developed in three phases, with Phase 1 to account for RM500 million of the total GDV.

“We are proceeding with the development. We have obtained approval for the master layout plan, and we are targeting to launch Phase 1 by the third quarter of next year,” he said, adding that the total GDV of the project will last FCW for the next seven to 10 years.

The first phase of 368 Residences will feature 800 to 900 residential units.

Meanwhile, Thor said the contract manufacturing segment, which was hit by the implementation of the goods and services tax (GST) in April and the weakening ringgit, continued to post a profit in 1QFY16.

However, the share of losses from its associate Fujikura Federal Cables Sdn Bhd was a drag on its first-quarter performance, resulting in the group reporting a net loss of RM1.17 million.

Thor said the power and telecommunication cables manufacturing segment was also affected by the depreciation of the ringgit.

“The loss arising from the ringgit depreciation was because we had hedged some of our receivables. Going forward, when the ringgit stabilises, we would see better results,” said Thor.

Asked if FCW is looking to replenish its landbank, he said it currently has ample cash to snatch up any opportunities that may arise.

Thor added that the group is not limiting itself to acquiring land, but will also look at acquiring other businesses.

As at Sept 30, 2015, FCW’s cash and cash equivalents stood at RM183.05 million.

FCW shares closed unchanged at RM1.02 yesterday, with a market capitalisation of RM254.99 million.