CapitaLand, DLF quarterly net profits fall

By Kevin Lim and Devidutta Tripathy

SINGAPORE/NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Southeast Asia's largest developer, CapitaLand, and Indian realty firm DLF both posted quarterly falls in net profit on Friday, hit by lower sales and lower-margin sales respectively.

However, CapitaLand, whose profit fell 26 percent, has S$4.2 billion in cash while its net debt-to-equity ratio stood at a healthy 0.51, giving it the ability to buy assets on the cheap when opportunities arose, said Chief Executive Liew Mun Leong in a statement.

CapitaLand, which is 40 percent held by Singapore sovereign fund Temasek, earned S$419.4 million ($283 million) in July-September compared with S$563.9 million a year ago when earnings were boosted by asset sales and revaluation gains.

"Lower sales revenue from development projects in the core markets were mitigated by stronger rentals from investment properties and higher fee-based income from real estate investment trusts (REITs) and funds under the Group's management," the firm said in a statement.

The Group's assets under management stood at S$24.8 billion at Sept. 30, up 18 percent from the previous quarter.

CapitaLand did not make provisions in its profit-and-loss accounts to reflect sagging property values in its core markets of Singapore, China and Australia, where home prices have fallen as much as 40 percent from their peaks in some cities.

The firm owns stakes in 11 listed developers and real estate investment trusts, whose values have fallen by 66 percent or about S$4.2 billion since June 2007, UBS analyst Alastair Gillespie wrote in a report on Thursday.