Aspen posts record profit of RM85.4m

PETALING JAYA: Penang property developer Aspen (Group) Holdings Ltd is confident that revenue growth for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18) will continue as the company has unbilled sales of RM858.2mil.

The company’s president and group chief executive officer Datuk M. Murly said in a press release that the achievements of FY17 have laid a strong foundation for future growth.

“The successful initial public offering in July 2017 on the Singapore Exchange and the sale and construction of our ongoing projects have contributed to the record net profit of RM85.4mil. With unbilled sales totalling RM858.2mil as at Dec 31, 2017, we are confident of a continuation of revenue growth in FY18,” he said.

The George Town-based property developer saw strong revenue recognition from three of four ongoing projects with a gross development value (GDV) totalling RM2.2bil that boosted net profit to RM41.96mil for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2017 compared to the same quarter a year ago of RM1.45mil.

The company, listed on Singapore’s Catalist board for fast-growth firms, said in a stock exchange filing recently that revenue for the quarter under review soared 369% to RM207.12mil compared to the same quarter in 2016.

For the financial year ended FY17, the company posted a net profit of RM85.40mil from a loss of RM306,000 in FY16. Aspen posted a 355% jump in revenue to RM453.07mil for FY17 compared to FY16.

Murly added that this will be a significant year for the company as it would be completing the first residential and the first commercial developments in the third and fourth quarters of the year. “We will be delivering a total of 1,758 keys to our purchasers, with a GDV of RM1.36bil,” he said.

Aspen’s flagship property project, the 245acre freehold Aspen Vision city, located in Batu Kawan next to the Penang second bridge, has a GDV of over RM10bil, of which RM2.17bil worth of properties have been launched.

The company partnered Ikea South East Asia for the project, touted as Penang’s third satellite city and which would also have the northern peninsula’s first Ikea store together with state-of-the-art regional integrated shopping centre.