Page 5 - ar2011_2012

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ANNUAL REPORT 2011/2012
Chairman’s Message
Dear Shareholders,
Stamford Land Corporation’s net proft fell
by 11.2% to $53.4 million from the previous
fnancial year (FY). This is mainly due to lower
fair value gains on investment properties of
$19.4 million before tax compared with $50.9
million in the previous FY.
In fact, we had a rewarding year with our
hotel and property businesses performing
well. The hotel owning and management
segment recorded a healthy increase in net
proft of 10.2% to $44.9 million, refecting
higher room rates and the translation of proft
at higher exchange rates from Australian into
Singapore Dollars.
Apartment sales of The Stamford Residences
and The Reynell Terraces project contributed
substantially to our property development’s
operating proft of $17.7 million. It was a
signifcant increase from $978,000 in the last
FY.
Group revenue soared by 93.9% to
$486.0 million. The sharp rise in property
development revenue amounted to $229.8
million compared with $14.5 million in the last
FY. During the fnancial year under review, the
completed sales of 115 units of The Stamford
Residences and The Reynell Terraces
generated a total of A$160 million and sales
of 16 units of The Stamford Residences added
up to NZ$16 million. Given the cautious buyer
sentiment in New Zealand, we are prepared
to hold until the economy improves since The
Stamford Residences is a freehold award-
winning iconic development and it commands
an excellent location in the Central Business
District (“CBD”). We have already leased out
44 of the remaining 69 units to ride on the
strong Auckland CBD rental market, reaping
a gross yield of up to 6% p.a.
Our property investment segment’s proft
rose by 29.3% to $12.1 million and revenue
rose by 13.6% to $13.6 million. This healthy
performance is mainly due to rental income
from Dynon’s Plaza. Located in Perth’s CBD,
this prime building is on a 10-year lease
to Chevron Australia with rental income
commencing from July 2010. It is also worth
noting that the capital value of Dynon’s Plaza
has risen by over 10% since the last FY.
Riding on a growing Australian economy with
a robust resource sector, our hotel segment
beneftted from strong corporate business
leading to a revenue increase of 8.6% to
$238.6 million. Our stable of hotels’ revenue
per available room (revpar) increased by
5.8% over the previous FY. Occupancy rate
for the Group’s hotels was 82.7%, some 0.3%
lower than the previous FY mainly because
our two Adelaide hotels were adversely
affected by an increase in new room supply
and Stamford Plaza Auckland was impacted
by natural disasters in Christchurch, Japan
and Chile.
The Group is in a strong fnancial position
with cash and cash equivalents amounting
to $87.7 million. Thus, we are in an enviable
position to seize suitable investment
opportunities to enhance our growth.
In view of our sterling performance, the Board is
recommendinga tax-exempt fnal dividendof 2.0
cents per ordinary share and special dividend of
2.0 cents per ordinary share. The total payout
would amount to some $34.6 million.