S P Setia Berhad has announced that the Group had achieved a revenue of RM 702.7 million and profit before tax of RM 104.0 million for the first quarter ended March 31.
The Group secured sales of RM 470.0 million, with local projects contributing RM 354 million, representing approximately 77 percent of the total sales.
The remaining RM 106 million or approximately 23 percent were contributed largely by international projects such as UNO Melbourne, Sapphire by the Gardens and Marque Residences in Australia as well as Daintree Residents in Singapore.
Sales were largely from the Central region with RM223 million, aided by RM86 million contributions from the Southern region while Northern region contributed another RM55 million. The total sales secured were also complemented by the concerted effort in clearing inventories where RM102 million worth of inventories were monetised during this period.
“In addition to the sales secured, the Group in the first quarter of FY2020 had also secured RM723 million bookings in the pipeline. During the extended conditional MCO period, the focus will be on the swift conversion of these bookings into sales,” said Khor Chap Jen, President & CEO of S P Setia Berhad.
While the property sector was also affected by the Movement Control Order, the Group says the recovery of the industry will largely depend on the improvement of the broader economy and also buyers’ sentiment, which remains weak as many are adopting a wait-and-see attitude.
“Nevertheless, the purchase of property is a relatively safe and sound investment in the medium to longer-term. Thus owner-occupiers and some investors may emerge due to attractive offerings by property developers,” said Khor
The Group had also launched several projects worth RM 478 million prior to the MCO which comprised of landed properties such as 2-storey terraced houses in Alam Impian priced from RM714,000 onwards, 2-storey terraced houses in Bandar Kinrara priced from RM1.0 million onwards.
Additionally, the projects also included 2-storey semidetached houses in Setia Alam priced from RM1.0 million onwards as well as 2-storey terraced houses in Setia Safiro priced from RM800,000 onwards. The Group had witnessed good responses from prospective buyers of these projects where the take-up rates had been most encouraging.
“The outlook for FY2020 remains challenging and uncertain as the full impact of the Covid-19 pandemic has not been ascertained. However, the Group remains resilient as unbilled sales totaling RM9.80 billion will place the Group in good stead during this challenging time and see the Group through over the next 2 years,” continued Khor.
Moving forward, the Group will remain prudent with limited new launches concentrating on the mid-range landed units in established townships to cater to the demand of owner-occupiers.
The Group is also anchored by 48 on-going projects and an effective remaining land banks of 8,718 acres with a Gross Development Value of RM138.87 billion as at March 31.
