KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): MK Land Holdings Bhd announced that its net profit for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (2QFY15) slipped 4.3% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM13.22 million or 1.1 sen per share from RM13.81 million or 1.15 sen per share, on lower revenue of RM115.35 million, down 18% y-o-y from RM140.45 million previously.
 
The quarter under review's revenue was dragged by its property development and leisure businesses, which dropped 17.7% and 20.4% respectively, its filing to Bursa Malaysia today showed.
 
For the cumulative six months to Dec 31, 2014 (1HFY15), MK Land saw its net profit march 8% to RM20.82 million or 1.73 sen per share from RM19.27 million or 1.6 sen per share previously, on higher construction progress in its property development business, as well as higher occupancy in its leisure business.
 
Revenue in 1HFY15, however, dropped 14% to RM222.33 million from RM259.24 million a year ago, due to lower contribution from its property development and leisure businesses, which fell 14.5% and 11%, respectively.
 
Going forward, MK Land (fundamental: 1.6; valuation: 3) expects its projects in the Klang Valley and Ipoh to the main earnings growth driver, despite challenges in the form of the soon-to-be-implemented goods and services tax, as well as the government's previous measures to curb speculative buying activity and household debts reduction.
 
"We will maintain focus on our strategies in the core property development segment to further our growth. Barring unforeseen circumstances, the board of directors expects to achieve satisfactory financial performance for the financial year ending June 30, 2015," MK Land said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia this evening.
 
MK Land is controlled by Tan Sri Mustapha Kamal Abu Bakar, 66, with a 47.37% stake, its latest annual report revealed.
 
In two other filings today, MK Land announced that Mustapha's daughter Felina, 44, has been appointed as the group's acting chairman; Mustapha himself has been re-designated as non-independent and non-executive director.
 
The stock closed 2.2% lower to 44.5 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM536.04 million.
 
(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)