SINGAPORE (Feb 27): Centurion Corp posted earnings of $5.9 million for the 4Q ended Dec 2017, nearly doubling from its 4Q16 earnings of $2.9 million a year ago after adjusting for fair value losses on investment properties and assets held for sale, providing deferred tax arising from fair value gain, and dual listing expenses.

Excluding these one-off items, the group’s profit from core business operations attributable to shareholders fell 27% to $9.3 million from $12.8 million in 4Q16.

Revenue for 4Q fell 4% on-year to $33.6 million from $35 million previously due to reduced contribution from Westlite Tuas in Singapore as its lease expired on 30 Jan this year. Over the quarter, the property was fully vacated with its workers relocated to other dormitories owned by the group, as well as a pre-arranged dormitory nearby.

Separately, Westlite Toh Guan in Singapore reported lower sales due to a reduction in bed capacity over the period under review.

Nonetheless, the group saw improved contributions from its ASPRI-Westlite Papan property after it achieved an overall occupancy of 99%, while Westlite Woodlands also reported higher y-o-y revenue due to stronger occupancy rates of over 90%.

Administrative expenses grew 54% to $9 million as a result of the issuance of Multicurrency Medium Term Notes Series 3 in April 2017.

Share of profit of associated companies doubled over the quarter to $2 million, mainly due to fair value gains of $0.4 million in the group’s 28.74%-owned Centurion US Student Housing Fund as compared to a fair value loss on investment property in 4Q16.

The latest 4Q set of results brings Centurion’s earnings for the full year to $31.7 million, up 11% from $28.7 million in FY16.

A final dividend of 1 cent as well as a special dividend of 0.5 cent has been proposed, while shareholders in Hong Kong will receive a dividend of HKD8.92 cents per share.

“With a resilient performance, our accommodation portfolios stand well-positioned in the near term to continue benefiting from the undersupply of high-quality accommodation assets across the five countries in which we operate. Underpinned by our established accommodation business, we are poised to capitalise on new engines of growth and remain cautiously optimistic for the future,” says Kong Chee Min, CEO of Centurion Corp.

This story, written by Michelle Zhu for The Edge Singapore, first appeared on Feb 27.