Mah Sing Q1 net soarson Greater KL projects

Mah Sing Group Bhd, one of the country's top developers, said its first quarter net profit surged by 46 per cent to RM59.9 million on the back of a 47 per cent growth in revenue to RM457.7 million.

The group attributed the growth largely to its property development projects in Greater Kuala Lumpur.

In a statement issued yesterday, Mah Sing said it has achieved slightly over RM1 billion in property sales as at May 15 2012, marking 40 per cent of its RM2.5 billion target for 2012.

Its property development projects in Greater Kuala Lumpur contributed 82 per cent to the sales. Johor Baru and Penang contributed 10 per cent and eight per cent, respectively.

The stock closed one sen higher yesterday to RM1.98.

Meanwhile, the group's unbilled sales stood at RM2.28 billion during the first quarter ended March 31 2012, or 1.8 times the revenue recorded from its property development division last year.

"We have planned our product mix in line with the market demand, as evidenced by the strong take up, for example, our township development of Kinrara Residence did very well when we launched our semi-detached homes and bungalows.

"This shows that there is continued demand for landed residential properties in good location, especially in gated and guarded schemes," said Mah Sing group managing director and group chief executive Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum.

Leong said the group's newly launched mass market township, M Residence@Rawang, also showed robust take up, reflecting market demand for affordable housing.

In the high rise segment, there was strong demand for smaller units of affordable serviced residences, he said.

Leong said Mah Sing is sitting on a cash pile of RM581 million, giving it a healthy landbank war-chest and a chance to buy more land for new developments.

As at May this year, Mah Sing has achieved 73 per cent of its landbanking target this year by making three key buys in Rawang, Bandar Baru Bangi and Kota Kinabalu in Sabah.

By Business Times