KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 25): Gabungan AQRS Bhd announced that its net profit in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4QFY14) has doubled to RM11.63 million or 3.17 sen per share from RM5.93 million or 1.67 sen per share in 4QFY13, due to higher sales and work progress from its development projects in Selangor and Johor.
 
Revenue in the quarter rose 6.9% to RM122.03 million from RM114.12 million previously, driven by its construction division, which generated 66.17% of its total revenue, the group's filing to Bursa Malaysia today showed.
 
For the full year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY14), Gabungan AQRS recorded a 23.4% jump in net profit to RM52.88 million or 14.39 sen per share from RM42.84 million or 12.05 sen per share in FY13; revenue grew 31.4% to RM534.12 million from RM406.31 million previously.
 
On a segmental basis, the property development saw its revenue rose 70.3% to RM208.89 million from RM122.64 million in FY13, while its segment profit doubled to RM67.76 million in FY14 from RM32.3 million a year ago.
 
Meanwhile, Gabungan AQRS' construction divisions saw its revenue jumped 14.6% to RM325.23 million from RM283.66 million in FY13, while its segment profit declined 18% to RM40.08 million in FY14 from RM49.03 million a year ago.
 
Going forward, the group expects its construction order-book to be further strengthened this year on the back of a positive outlook for the industry.
 
"Despite challenging market conditions for the property sector amidst the continuing tightening of bank's lending policies and the introduction of the Goods and Services Tax (GST) effective beginning April 1, 2015, the group expects its property development projects to contribute positively with its pipeline of on-going and upcoming project launches," it added. 
 
Gabungan AQRS (fundamental: 1.3; valuation: 1.8) expects to sustain satisfactory performance in FY15. The stock closed unchanged at RM1.26 today, with 233,500 shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM489.38 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.)