Sin Chew Daily - Red hot sales; Tropicana Q1 net profit soared by 72 percent

Kuala Lumpur, 22 May 2018 - Tropicana Corp Bhd's (TROP, 5401, main market, property) net profit surged 71.49% to RM46.4 million in its first quarter ended March 31, 2018 from RM27.06 million due to high sales of projects across the Klang Valley and the northern and southern regions of Peninsular Malaysia.

Quarterly revenue went up 21.2% to RM 453mil from RM 373.68mil.

1.6 sen of dividend

The company also declared a first interim dividend of 1.6 sen for the period.

The group said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the revenue went up on higher progress billings from advanced stages of construction work for many of the group's ongoing projects.

The group has unbilled sales of RM 1.2bil and will roll out projects with total development value of RM 898mil in this year.

Tropicana had delivered total unbilled sales of RM 1.2bil, anchored by 15 ongoing projects and an existing land bank of 888.9 acres with a total gross development value of RM 42.1bil.

Moving forward, the group believes the overall short-term prospects for the industry are expected to remain challenging. There will still be demand for properties in prime locations with attractive pricing, and the group will continue to focus on being market-driven and unlock the value of its landbank at strategic locations.

Tropicana is also confident of registering steady recurring income stream from its property investment portfolio such as Tenby International School that will begin its first intake in September and W Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, which is targeted to be operational in the second half of 2018.