Boustead REIT nets RM20m in Q1

Al-Hadharah Boustead REIT, the only Islamic plantation REIT, recorded a 17 per cent increase in its profit after tax to RM20.236 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2009 from RM17.314 million last year.

In a statement yesterday, Boustead REIT Managers Sdn Bhd's chairman Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said it was mainly because of a gain of RM6.5 million on the compulsory acquisition of investment properties by the government.

He said the strong performance was achieved on the back of a revenue of RM15.810 million against last year's RM18.798 million.

Lodin added performance based profit sharing dipped slightly to RM2.5 million compared with last year's RM2.9 million.

"Though there were contraction in crude palm oil prices which affected our performance based structure, our fixed rental income for the period under review grew.

"In addition, this gain from the compulsory acquisition of the investment properties by the government went directly to our bottom line. This significant gain of RM6.5 million was a primary contributing factor in psuhing our profits up," he said.

He said the company was confident that demand for palm oil will see an upward trend due to its strong popularity although global demand for edible oils has been affected by the credit squeeze and economic crisis.

"We are optimistic that palm oil prices will continue to trade at the current steady price range for the year," he said.

By Bernama  (Posted on 22May2009)