KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 27): Sunway Bhd's net profit shrunk 7.2% year-on-year to RM133.3 million or 7.54 sen per share in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (3QFY15), largely on weaker profit contribution from its property development, as well as trading and manufacturing segments.

Its latest quarterly revenue came in at RM951 million, down 16% compared to RM1.1 billion in the same quarter last year, the group told Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

The lower revenue, it said, was mainly due to the higher elimination of intra-group construction revenue, which rose RM289 million in the current quarter.

In 3QFY15, the property development segment reported the highest revenue of RM270 million, 51.7% more than RM178 million last year, but profit before tax dropped to RM38.5 million in 3QFY15 compared to RM99.2 million last year.

"The performance for the current quarter was moderated by the lower progress billings from the local projects and lower profit contribution from the Singapore property projects," it said.

In its cumulative nine months (9MFY15), net profit rose 20.3% to RM517.8 million or 29.54 sen per share from RM430.2 million or 24.96 sen per share in the same period last year.

However, 9MFY15 revenue slipped 9.3% to RM3.1 billion from RM3.4 billion last year, again due to the higher elimination of intra-group construction revenue.

"The overall performance for the current period was better despite the lower revenue recorded. Profit for the current period was higher and it was mainly due to capital gains of RM22.9 million from the sale of two properties in the first quarter and share of higher fair value gains recorded by Sunway REIT (real estate investment trust).

"The operating performance of the business units was also generally better, except for the property development and trading and manufacturing segments," it said.

Looking ahead, Sunway said it will adopt a cautious business strategy due to the uncertain economic outlook, but will continue to seek out synergistic acquisitions, which will augur well for its core business.

"Although the local property market has turned more cautious, the group was able to partly offset the financial impact from the slower property sales due to its diversified business portfolio.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the group's performance for the fourth quarter is expected to be satisfactory," it said.

Sunway closed unchanged at RM3.06 yesterday, for a market capitalisation of RM5.47 billion.

(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.)