CapitaLand's 2Q net profit up 5.8% to $335m

SINGAPORE - CapitaLand Ltd, Southeast Asia's largest property developer, announced on Wednesday that profit after tax and minority interests (PATMI) of the group increased 5.8 percent year-on-year to S$464 million ($335.1 million) in the second quarter of 2015.

Operating PATMI surged 87.6 percent year-on-year to S$256.1 million ($185.0 million), after CapitaLand changed the use of development properties for sale in China, namely Paragon (Tower 5 and 6) and Raffles City Changning (Tower 3). These projects are at prime locations in Shanghai and the group has changed its business plans for these projects from strata-sale to leasing as investment properties.

Revenue for the second quarter of 2015 rose by 17.8 percent to S$1.03 billion ($743.9 million), on the back of higher contribution from development projects in China. The rise was partially offset by lower revenue from development projects in Singapore and Vietnam, CapitaLand said in a news release.

Collectively, the two core markets of Singapore and China accounted for 79.6 percent of the revenue, compared to 72.9 percent in the same period of 2014.

CapitaLand President and CEO Lim Ming Yan said that the group's well-balanced portfolio of investment properties and residential projects will continue to generate recurring income and trading profits. While CapitaLand remains focused on Singapore and China as core markets, it is exploring opportunities to expand in growth markets such as Vietnam, Indonesia and Malaysia.