SINGAPORE (Aug 27): Property group GuocoLand reported a 42% drop in 4Q earnings to $107.31 million from a year ago, pulled down by lower revenue and fair value gain on investment properties.

For the three months to end June, revenue fell 48% to $254.7 million due to lower sales recognised for China projects as Seasons Park in Tianjin which was almost fully sold in current year.

However, gross margin rose to 41% in the quarter, higher than the 30% a year ago arising from a change in sales-mix.

In addition, other income also saw a 37% drop to $81.1 million from a year ago, mainly due to lower fair value gain recognised for investment properties in current quarter.

Share of results of associates and joint ventures also reversed to a $40,000 loss from a $14.35 million profit. GuocoLand says this was due to lower profit recognised for completed developments in Malaysia where sale revenue is recognised on completion basis.

For the FY15 ended June, earnings fell 26% to $226.4 million on the back of a 7% fall in revenue to $1.16 billion.

In its outlook, GuocoLand says Singapore continues to be the main contributor of the group's revenue and profit for the year ended June 30, accounting for $714.7 million of revenue, similar to the previous financial year.

"The group expects operating conditions to remain challenging and will continue its focus on sales and leasing of its current projects while remaining watchful of investment opportunities," GuocoLand said in its financial statement.

Meanwhile, the Malaysian property market has softened as political and economic uncertainty weigh down on the sector. New home prices in China rose for a third consecutive month in July though.

GuocoLand has proposed a first and final dividend of 5 cents per shares, unchanged from a year ago.

GuocoLand closed 0.8% lower at $1.985 on Wednesday.