Revenue from mall: Revenue from property investment business was higher due to additional revenue from the Sunway Velocity Mall which was opened in December 2016.

PETALING JAYA: Construction-and-property firm Sunway Bhd posted a 5.69% rise in net profit to RM107.91mil for the first quarter ended March 31 compared to the same quarter a year ago on contribution from all business segments except the property development arm.

The company said in a Bursa Malaysia announcement that revenue was 2.08% higher at RM1.09bil with the construction business posting a marginal drop in profit before tax to RM36.9mil although revenue was up slightly at RM316.8mil compared to RM311.4mil.

It noted that the financial performance of the construction arm “was largely in line with the corresponding quarter of the previous financial year”.

The property development business posted a 63.67% drop in pre-tax profit to RM25.1mil while revenue was 38.78% lower at RM143.3mil mainly due to lower sales and progress billings from local development projects. Sunway said no sales was recorded for the wholly-owned Avant Parc project in Singapore in the current quarter as the project was fully sold in the second quarter of 2016.

The property investment business’ pre-tax profit was slightly lower at RM31.1mil compared to RM33.5mil while revenue was 10.46% higher at RM186.9mil mainly due to additional revenue from the new Sunway Velocity Mall, which was opened in December 2016. Pre-tax profit was lower because of higher opening and operating expenses incurred for Sunway Velocity Mall.

It said the trading and manufacturing arm posted a 66% surge in pre-tax profit to RM8.8mil on revenue that rose almost 27% to RM245.2mil due to higher sales both locally and overseas because of improvements in overall market condition and sentiment.

Meanwhile, the quarry segment saw profit before tax shrink to RM500,000 from RM6.1mil on lower operating margin while revenue was slightly higher at RM40.2mil. The company said the other business divisions recorded a 107.78% jump in pre-tax profit to RM50.7mil due to higher contribution from the healthcare and building materials segments and group treasury operations.

Revenue was about 30% higher at RM158.9mil.

Sunway expects the current quarter’s financial performance to be satisfactory on the resilient local economy and improving global economic forecast.

It added that any better than expected growth from the domestic economy would benefit the company.

It said the local economy could gain strength going forward after the robust growth rate of 5.6% achieved in the first quarter boosted by strong domestic demand, higher private and public sector expenditure and rise in manufacturing activity.

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