This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on March 1, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: Negeri Sembilan-based property developer Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd's third quarter (3Q) net profit jumped 40% year-on-year (y-o-y) to a record high of RM70.56 million from RM50.45 million a year ago, as it registered higher revenue from all its developments.

Quarterly revenue for the three months ended Dec 31, 2017 (3QFY18) rose 34% y-o-y to RM266.17 million from RM198 million.

In a statement yesterday, the group said its revenue from residential sales leapt 42% to RM168.4 million, while revenue from sales of commercial properties rose 15% to RM25.2 million; revenue from sales of industrial properties grew 29% to RM63.6 million, while revenue from investment properties — comprising Matrix Global Schools and d’Tempat Country Club — grew 8% to RM9 million.

The stronger quarterly performance pushed earnings per share to 9.52 sen from 8.83 sen a year ago. The property developer declared a third interim single-tier dividend of 3.5 sen per share, payable on April 11, bringing its year-to-date (YTD) dividend payout for FY18 to 9.35 sen.

The YTD payout, an estimated payout of RM69.4 million, is about 41% of the group's net profit for the nine months ended Dec 31 period  of RM167.94 million, which grew 13% y-o-y from RM148.84 million. Cumulative revenue rose 4% y-o-y to RM641.92 million from RM619.08 million.

The group said it is positive about achieving more than 10% sales growth in FY18, exceeding the RM1 billion new sales recorded a year ago.

Matrix Concepts chairman Datuk Mohamad Haslah Mohamad Amin said the group is currently undertaking RM2.48 billion worth of ongoing projects as at end of 2017. “This is coupled with unbilled sales of RM1.1 billion, which would provide strong earnings visibility for the next few years,” Mohamad Haslah said.

As at Dec 31, 2017, the group’s undeveloped land bank stood at about 1,600 acres (647.5ha), with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM6.7 billion.

Its launches for the remaining three months of FY18 have a combined GDV of RM584 million, amounting to an estimated RM1.41 billion in total launches for FY18.