KUALA LUMPUR: Hua Yang Bhd’s net profit jumped 24.8% to RM29.89 million or 11.32 sen per share for its first quarter ended June 2015 (1QFY16) from RM23.94 million or 9.07 sen per share a year ago, on steady construction progress of all ongoing projects for its property development segment. Revenue for the quarter rose 4.5% to RM142.57 million from RM136.47 million in 1QFY15.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the property developer said the property development segment saw a 24% rise in pre-tax profit to RM39.99 million in 1QFY16 from RM32.36 million in 1QFY15, while revenue rose 4% to RM142 million from RM135.9 million.

Its other operations, which consist mainly of rental income from the operation of commercial properties under concession with local authorities, saw a decline in pre-tax profit to RM197,000 from RM218,000, while revenue rose marginally to RM577,000 from RM572,000.

Hua Yang said the board remains positive of posting satisfactory results for the current financial year ending March 2016 based on the group's pipeline of ongoing and upcoming launches. Its total unbilled sales at the end of June 2015 stood at RM660.8 million. Chief executive officer Ho Wen Yan said the operating landscape for the property industry in the immediate term will continue to be challenging.

“The group intends to stay on course with its strategic focus of delivering quality and affordable homes while managing cost effectively and efficiently,” he said in a statement yesterday.  “We will continue to plan for new launches while at the same time, drive sales of recently launched and ongoing projects. Our goal is to consistently deliver RM500 million new sales annually.” 

For FY16 ending March 2016, the group will be introducing new developments in its existing regions, with a total gross development value of RM633 million. Hua Yang (fundamental: 1.7; valuation: 2.4) shares closed unchanged at RM1.90 yesterday, with a market capitalisation of RM501.6 million.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 14, 2015.