CENTURION CLUB: REAL ESTATE

 

PropNex, the largest real estate agency in Singapore, has again made a clean sweep following its similar feat last year. PropNex has been named the winner for profit after tax (PAT), weighted return on equity (ROE) and returns to shareholders, before being crowned overall sector winner.

The company was officially incepted in 2000 with around 3,000 salespersons. As at March 15, this number has surged to 11,896 salespersons, helping their clients broker all kinds of real estate types. PropNex offers training and consultancy services as well.

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In FY2022 ended Dec 31, 2022, PropNex says it has taken the lead in real estate agency services, with substantial market share in the residential segments of new project launches, private resale, HDB resale and rental including commercial and industrial properties.

As an industry leader, PropNex constantly strives as first to introduce new initiatives, especially in technological innovations with an emphasis on improving the productivity of its salespersons to better serve clients.

Throughout the years, the company has chalked up numerous milestones and industry-firsts. In 2016, it ventured overseas for the first time to Indonesia. The following year, it expanded into Malaysia and also merged with the Dennis Wee Group to form Singapore’s largest real estate agency.

PropNex was listed on the Singapore Exchange S68 in 2018. The same year, it expanded into Vietnam, its third overseas market. In 2021, PropNex became the first real estate agency here to have more than 10,000 salespersons in Singapore and this number hit more than 12,000 the following year. “PropNex has proven to be the preferred agency of choice by clients and salespersons and we remain on track in realising our vision of having 15,000 PropNex salespersons by 2025,” says Ismail Gafoor, co-founder, executive chairman and CEO in his FY2022 ended December 2022 annual report.

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In FY2022, PropNex reported revenue crossed $1 billion to reach $1.03 billion from $957.5 million. Earnings in the same period were up by 6.4% y-o-y $65.4 million.

Gafoor notes that the financial results in FY2022 were “no mean feat” given how the market has been hit with two rounds of cooling measures introduced on Dec 16, 2021, and Sept 29, 2022. As at Dec 31, 2022, the company held a cash balance of $138.9 million. For FY2022, it declared a total dividend payout of 13.5 cents, representing a payout ratio of 80%.

In addition, PropNex announced a one-for-one bonus issue, which was its first ever. “The group has always held firm to our longterm strategy to broaden the distribution of PropNex’s shares to more investors, alongside a continued commitment to encourage trading liquidity. This is the first bonus share issue that PropNex has undertaken and this exercise reflects our belief in the opportunities for PropNex’s long-term growth and expansion,” adds Gafoor.

According to Gafoor, PropNex’s position as a front-runner in the industry is largely made possible by the company’s “progressive corporate culture” where the management is constantly seeking improvement.