Parkroyal Kitchener sale fuels 374% leap in UOL's profit in second half

Real estate group UOL has announced a 373.9 per cent leap in net profit to $572.7 million for its fiscal second half ended Dec 31, 2023, on a $442.3 million gain from the sale of a wholly owned subsidiary that held Parkroyal on Kitchener Road.

Before fair value and other gains, the mainboard-listed group's halfyear profit was down 12 per cent to $145.5 million, from $164.5 million in the year-ago period, it disclosed in a bourse filing on Feb 27.

The results translate to earnings per share (EPS) of $0.6778, against EPS of $0.1431 in the second half of the 2022 financial year (FY).

Overall, the full-year profit was up 43.9 per cent, at $707.7 million, versus $491.9 million in the previous year. With this, the board proposed a special dividend of $0.05 per share on top of a first and final dividend of $0.15 per share.

Meanwhile, the group said its second-half revenue was down 21.1 per cent to $1.3 billion, as takings from property development tumbled by 45 per cent or $443.4 million on lower contributions from its Avenue South Residence, Park Eleven Shanghai, The Tre Ver and Clavon properties. The drop is partially offset by higher progressive revenue recognition from AMO Residence and The Watergardens at Canberra, it stated.