PropNex reports 17.8% growth in 3QFY2022 earnings to $18.2 mil

SINGAPORE (EDGEPROP) - PropNex reported earnings of $18.2 million for its 3QFY2022 ended Sept 30, up 17.8% y-o-y. The higher earnings come on the back of a 10.2% y-o-y growth in revenue for 3QFY2022 to $258.4 million.

Ismail Gafoor, co-founder, executive chairman and CEO of PropNex attributes the results to a "stronger and steady performance for 3Q2022 in the leasing, private resale and HDB resale segments". He also points out that the property market has remained resilient, with the private residential and HDB resale segments registering another quarter of price gains in 3Q2022.

“Recently, the government introduced further calibrations on the cooling measures amid rising interest rates to prevent home buyers from overstretching themselves – these are needful and timely, in our view, but the effect has yet to be seen on the market,” Gafoor adds.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, PropNex recorded revenue totalling $730.8 million, up 2.1% y-o-y. However, its earnings for the period declined 6.7% y-o-y to $46.5 million.

In terms of market outlook, PropNex anticipates the tight unsold stock of new private homes and limited new launches in 4Q2022 to result in private home prices rising at a slower pace compared to the previous year. The company is projecting an overall price increase of 9% to 10%, in 2022, while transaction volumes excluding executive condominiums are estimated at 8,000 to 8,500 units for the year.

For the private residential resale market, transaction volumes are expected to remain muted given the tight resale inventory. This comes on the back of owners looking to tap on the strong rental demand instead of selling their property, while those looking to downgrade to HDB resale flats may now also hold back due to the newly imposed 15- month wait-out period as part of the cooling measures that kicked in on Sept 30. (Find HDB flats for rent or sale with our Singapore HDB directory)

The wait-out period, coupled with other measures that affect the loan quantum accessible by HDB buyers, may help rein in the pace of price growth in the HDB resale market, notes PropNex. For the whole of 2022, the company projects that HDB resale prices could rise by 9% to 10% – slower than the 12.7% increase posted in 2021.

In a Nov 9 press statement announcing its 3QFY2022 earnings, PropNex also highlighted that the group has crossed over 12,000 salespersons as of Oct 19. “Given our strong network and support systems, advanced IT platforms and focus on proprietary training programmes, the group saw an 11.8% increase in salesforce head count to 12,065 (as at Nov 2) from 10,796 salespersons since Jan 1,” Gafoor says.