KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 26): Mulpha International Bhd's net profit fell 15.84% to RM37.08 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (3QFY15) from RM44.05 million last year, mainly due to lower sales in its property division.

As such, the real estate investment company's revenue for the quarter under review came in 41.4% lower at RM174.08 million, compared with RM296.78 million a year ago, its filing on the local exchange today showed.

The weaker property division was primarily due to lower sales at its Leisure Farm development in Johor, and the consolidation of Mulpha Land Bhd, now known as Thriven Global Bhd — though their collective impact was partially offset by improved performance in the group's hospitality and investment divisions.

Nevertheless, the company's net profit for the nine months ended Sept 30 (9MFY15) surged 87.1% to RM91.63 million from RM48.97 million in the previous year, mainly due to higher contribution in the investment and other division (RM93.59 million) and better performance in the hospitality division (RM39.39 million).

Revenue for 9MFY15, however, slipped 0.71% to RM597.28 million from RM601.53 million last year.

The group remains optimistic that it is well positioned for future growth opportunities based on its strong and geographically diversified property portfolio located in Malaysia, Australia and the United Kingdom.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the group's performance for the financial year ending 2015 is expected to be satisfactory," it said.

Shares in Mulpha International were unchanged at 27.5 sen, with market capitalisation of RM586.8 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.)