SINGAPORE (May 30): Metro Holdings, the property developer and investment group backed by departmental store operations, recorded a 29% fall in FY17 earnings to $81 million from $113.3 million a year ago.
Metro saw a $33.1 million decline in share of results of associates following lower recognition of property sales relating to Nanchang and Top Spring.
There was also a $45.9 million decrease in share of joint ventures’ results as FY16 included a one-off gain from the disposal of EC Mall of $41.7 million.
Full-year revenue fell 15.1% to $131.2 million.
Metro’s property division turned around to register a profit of $20 million in FY2017 from a loss of $1.6 million in FY2016, mainly due to foreign exchange gains. Revenue fell by $2.0 million to $6.5 million.
Revenue from Metro’s retail division fell 14.6% to $124.7 million largely due to the absence of the revenue contribution from Metro Sengkang and Metro City Square with their closures.
Coupled with pressures on margins, operating and overhead costs, this affected profitability, resulting in a loss of $2 million, compared to a loss of $2.4 million in FY16.
However, together with stronger performance from Metro’s Indonesian associate, profit contribution from group’s retail division rose to $1.3 million.
Looking ahead, Metro says given the weak market sentiment of Singapore’s residential property sector, sales of the group’s residential project – The Crest at Prince Charles Crescent – is expected to be sluggish.
The retail division is also expected to continue being beset by challenges including a competitive trading environment, slower domestic economy and high operating costs.
Metro has declared a final dividend of 2 cents and special dividend of 3 cents per share.
The stock closed at $1.17 on Monday.
