KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 29): S P Setia Bhd has reported a 71.12% jump in its fourth quarter net profit to RM148.24 million from RM86.63 million a year earlier, helped by higher sales of its properties.

Revenue for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (4QFY2023) fell 18.98% year-on-year to RM1.38 billion from RM1.71 billion, which the group attributed to lower revenue from the property development segment following the completion of the group's Daintree Residence in Singapore in the previous year.

However, this was mitigated by higher contributions from the group's Australian market due to the handover of UNO Melbourne units and higher domestic property development revenue, the group said in a bourse filing on Thursday.

The property developer highlighted that it achieved RM5.10 billion sales in FY2023, exceeding its target of RM4.2 billion and surpassing RM4.11 billion sales in FY2022.

"The driving force behind S P Setia's sales is its local projects, accounting for a significant portion of revenue with RM4.41 billion or approximately 86% of total sales,” S P Setia said in a separate statement.

The central region contributed RM3.30 billion in sales, followed by the southern region with RM860 million, while the northern and eastern regions contributed a combined of RM247 million during the year, the group said.

Full-year net profit slipped by a marginal 1.92% to RM298.57 million from RM304.4 million in FY2023, as revenue fell 1.81% to RM4.37 billion from RM4.54 billion.

"The group further reduced its borrowings by RM1.30 billion, bringing down the net gearing ratio to 0.49 times from 0.57 times in FY2022, enabling better capital optimisation and deployment across the development pipelines for future growth," said S P Setia.

The group declared a dividend of 1.34 sen per share for FY2023.

Moving into 2024, S P Setia said it will continue with its development plans in Vietnam and Australia. It expects to maintain the momentum of its existing presence in Australia, which it said will be strengthened through the development of its newly acquired Sydney land.  

“We remain optimistic in the group’s trajectory this year, with key focuses in accelerating township developments, large-scale industrial developments and strengthening our international presence,” said S P Setia president and chief executive officer Datuk Choong Kai Wai.

S P Setia shares closed unchanged at 84.5 sen on Thursday, valuing the property developer at RM3.76 billion. The stock has gained 38.52% over the past one year.