KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Research has maintained its earnings forecasts for UEM Sunrise Bhd, expecting some disposals of non-core land and retail assets to be concluded in the fourth quarter of 2024 (Q4 2024).
However, the sale of 11.7 hectares of land in East Ledang for RM144.9 million, which is anticipated to yield a gain of RM20 million, might face delays and is projected to complete only by late 2025, it said in a note.
The research firm noted that UEM Sunrise's robust property sales in Q3 2024 have driven its unbilled sales up to RM2.89 billion, compared to RM2.72 billion in Q2 2024.
It made no change to its target price (TP) of RM1.60, which is based on a 25 per cent discount to RNAV.
UEM Sunrise reported a 176 per cent surge in net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2024, reaching RM22.99 million compared to RM8.34 million in the same period last year.
This growth was attributed to higher margin contributions from land sales.
Quarterly revenue rose to RM369.33 million from RM312.35 million, bolstered by the sale of non-strategic land in Iskandar Puteri, Johor, though this was partly offset by a decline in contributions from property development.
For the nine months ended Sept30, 2024, net profit grew slightly to RM50.01 million from RM48.39 million in the previous year.
However, revenue eased to RM799.51 million from RM917.09 million, largely due to lower contributions from property development.
Revenue from property development fell to RM524 million from RM700 million, reflecting the advanced stages of projects such as Residensi AVA in Kiara Bay, Residensi Astrea in Mont'Kiara, and Serene Heights in Semenyih.