KUALA LUMPUR – Sime Darby Property Bhd’s net profit for its full year ended December 31, 2022 (FY2022) surged more than two-fold year-on-year to RM315.84 million from RM146.9 million the previous year.
Revenue rose to RM2.74 billion from RM2.22 billion the preceding year.
Group managing director Datuk Azmir Merican said the group also concluded its 2022 fiscal year with the highest ever post-2017 demerger operating profit of RM487.8 million and sales of RM3.7 billion, surpassing its RM2.6 billion sales target.
He noted that the significant increase in profits was underpinned by profitability growth across all business segments, including contributions from the group’s land monetisation activities and disposal of non-core assets.
“While FY2022 has indeed been demanding, particularly due to heightened competition, the results we have achieved are a testament to the collective effort of our team, complemented by our wide range of innovative products.
“We were indeed in the eye of the storm, particularly with labour-related challenges and escalating material prices.
“Despite these challenges, we successfully delivered 1,855 units of products to our customers during the year,” he said in a briefing on the company’s financial results.
Supported by the group’s healthy balance sheet, Sime Darby Property is expected to declare a second single-tier dividend of one sen per share for a total dividend of two sen per share in FY2022, amounting to RM136 million.
Moving forward, Azmir said in view of the ongoing industry challenges of labour issues and rising raw material prices, the group will cautiously tread 2023 with more practical targets.
Sime Darby Property will also continue to proactively undertake landbank management and monetisation activities with the proposed acquisition of up to 383.64ha of land in Klang and disposal of its non-core lands, he added.
“We are also happy that the group’s completed stocks remained at a very healthy level from an earnings visibility point of view, with a 1.7-times coverage ratio because of FY2022’s strong annual sales.
“With strong booking numbers and cash flow… we were also able to generate positive operational cash flow and pare down our debt level, as we can see the gearing now is at 22%,” he said.
He shared that according to its “Shift 25” vision, the group is also moving from a pure-play property developer to a real estate company.
For FY2023, Azmir said the group is targeting RM3 billion in gross development value of launches – with 68% from residential and 26% from industrial – and RM829.6 million of properties to be launched in the first quarter of 2023.
He said the group is targeting RM 2.3 billion in sales this year, moderating from FY 2022 sales, reflecting current challenges in the operating environment.
“I would like to emphasise that this is a target that we will monitor. We can go higher depending on the market. We are really watching the recovery in terms of labour.
“And as you saw in FY2022, we had an aggressive launch pipeline as well. So we need to make sure that whatever we launch we are able to deliver well,” he said. – Bernama, March 1, 2023
