Sinyi Realty Inc (信義房屋), the nation’s only listed broker, saw its net income soar fourfold in the third quarter, as it realized profits from newly completed housing projects in China’s Shanghai.
Net income last quarter stood at NT$1.03 billion (US$34.12 million), 4.14 times the level from the previous year, as the company benefited from delivering presale apartments in China’s most populous municipality.
The broker, which also owns property development and construction businesses, in 2012 acquired a 170,000 ping (561,984m2) plot of land in Shanghai’s Jiading area for NT$3.8 billion.
The company launched presale housing units in two phases with the second batch expected to be sold next year, Sinyi senior financial director Chris Chen (陳志桓) told an investors’ conference on Friday last week.
The first batch with 566 apartment units and the second batch with 543 units were the profit drivers in the second and third quarters respectively, and might continue to boost revenue this quarter and into next year, Chen said.
The profit margin in the third quarter hovered at about 26 percent, an improvement of 10 percentage points compared with the second quarter, he said.
That is because housing prices in Shanghai continue to pick up despite the Chinese government’s tightening measures to cool the property market, Chen said.
Sinyi has expanded into property development and home decoration to diversify its sources of income.
Property development in China generated 61 percent of the NT$5.2 billion revenue for last quarter, while the brokerage arm in Taiwan contributed the remaining share, company data showed.
The brokerage business grew 15 percent last quarter from a year earlier, as property transactions regained momentum, Sinyi said.
The first three quarters saw 197,000 property deals in Taiwan, an increase of 12 percent from the same period last year, the firm said, citing government data.
The figure might fall between 270,000 units and 280,000 units for the whole of this year, Sinyi said.
Sinyi accumulated NT$14.5 billion in revenue between January and September this year, 1.57 times higher than the previous year, its report said.
Net profit increased 5.54 times to NT$2.27 billion, translating into earnings per share of NT$3.48, the company said.
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