KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 29): Johor-based developer Crescendo Corporation Bhd reported a 138.2% increase in its second quarter net profit ended July 31, 2013 to RM61.68 million or 27.09 sen a share, although revenue for the quarter has dropped 19.8% to RM69.54 million.  

In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia, Crescendo said the decrease in revenue was due to lower sales in industrial properties, while the increase of profit was on the back of fair value changes of investment properties amounting to RM49.7 million.

As for its six months ended July 31, net profit came in at RM67.22 million — an increase of 53.2% from RM43.88 million. Nevertheless, revenue fell 23.5% to RM120.7 million, from RM157.7 million a year ago.

The group has declared an interim dividend of 7 sen per share.

Crescendo said its unrecognised revenue or unbilled sales as at July 31, 2014, stood at RM128 million.

“The board expects the group's performance to be better in the second half, as compared to first half of the financial year ending Jan 31, 2015,” said the group.

It added that the market condition is expected to remain challenging in the near term, in view of the various cooling measures implemented by the government.

Nevertheless according to Crescendo, property in Iskandar Malaysia, especially landed property is expected to be less affected, in view of the government's effort in promoting Iskandar Malaysia and the expected growth in demand arising from the enhanced bilateral collaborations between Malaysia and Singapore.

Crescendo closed unchanged today at RM2.83, translating to a market capitalisation of RM643.5 million.