KUALA LUMPUR: UEM Sunrise Bhd’s net profit more than tripled to RM272.38 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4QFY14), from RM77.96 million a year earlier, bringing its basic earnings per share (EPS) to six sen from 1.79 sen.

Revenue for the quarter soared 134% to RM1.34 billion, from RM573.11 million the year before.

The group has proposed a first and final dividend of three sen per share for the year.

UEM Sunrise (fundamental: 1.35; valuation: 1.2) said the higher revenue for the quarter was “primarily due to Gerbang land sales to Fastrack Iskandar Sdn Bhd of RM248.3 million, and Scope Energy Sdn Bhd of RM522.7 million”.

However, for the full year of 2014, net profit came in 17% lower at RM479.93 million, compared with RM579.14 million in FY13, despite a 10% year-on-year increase in revenue to RM2.66 billion, from RM2.43 billion.

The lower profit was attributed to lower margin from land sales, which was partly offset by higher profit from property development.

“The lower margins for the strategic land sales in FY14 are due to the catalytic nature of the two projects, which will help kick-start the development of Gerbang Nusajaya,” said the group in a statement yesterday.

Going forward, UEM Sunrise expects a challenging 2015, amid concerns of oversupply of properties, a tight lending environment and the general economic uncertainties.

“However, the group will be able to sustain its performance in 2015, on the back of the existing unrecognised revenue of RM3.9 billion (as at Dec 31, 2014) from ongoing projects that will continue to contribute towards the group’s revenue and earnings,” it said.

UEM Sunrise will also be launching several new projects, including Estuari, Denai Nusantara and Gerbang Nusantara in the southern region, and Serene Heights, Artisan Hills and Sefina in the central region.

It will also be launching Conservatory, its second Australian project, in the second half of 2015.

“With all these plans in place, the group has set a sales target of RM2 billion for 2015,” it said.

UEM Sunrise shares closed unchanged at RM1.38 yesterday, with a market capitalisation of RM6.26 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 27, 2015.