KUALA LUMPUR (May 9): S P Setia Bhd has secured RM718 million in sales for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 (1QFY19).

Of this, local projects contributed RM678 million, which represented approximately 94% of the total sales. International projects contributed RM40 million, representing the remaining 6% of the total sales, it said in a statement today.

Total unbilled sales stands at RM10.95 billion as at March 31, 2019. The group's sales target for this financial year is RM5.65 billion.

Sales secured during the quarter contributed to the group's 1QFY19 revenue, which rose 32% to RM864.91 million compared to RM655.5 million in 1QFY18.

Meanwhile, S P Setia said its net profit fell 14% to RM52.83 million during the quarter versus RM61.49 million previously, due to higher expenses and taxes. As a result, earnings per share fell to 1.33 sen from 1.7 sen in 1QFY18.

In the statement, S P Setia said the 'wait-and-see' attitude continues to linger as purchasers await positive leads for the property market to recover.

"In the first quarter, we launched approximately RM339 million gross development value (GDV), comprising mainly of landed properties. Despite the lacklustre property market, there is still strong demand for landed residential properties from owner occupiers looking to settle down in established township," it said.

For the remaining part of FY19, the group has planned a total of RM6.47 billion worth of launches, focusing on Klang Valley with RM4.65 billion and Johor with RM1.12 billion.

In Klang Valley, the planned major launches are in Setia Alam, Bandar Kinrara, Alam Impian, Setia Alamsari, Temasya Glenmarie, Setia Tropicale, Setia Ecohill 2, KL Eco City and Setia Sky Seputeh — Tower B, while in Johor, the planned major launches are in Setia Tropika, Bukit Indah Johor, Setia Eco Gardens and Taman Industri Jaya.

"The group is monitoring the property market closely and with the pipeline of diversified products, mainly concentrated on landed residential properties, we will roll out more launches the moment the property market picks up," said S P Setia president and chief executive officer Datuk Khor Chap Jen.

The group currently has 45 ongoing projects with 9,477 acres of effective land banks remaining and potential GDV of RM145.9 billion.

At the noon market break today, S P Setia shares were three sen or 1.37% lower at RM2.16, for a market value of RM8.17 billion.