PETALING JAYA – Magna Prima Berhad today announced its second consecutive quarter of strong performance against corresponding periods in 2010.

For the first 6 months ended 30 June 2011, the Group achieved revenue of RM54.2 million, an increase of 11% from RM48.9 million as compared to the corresponding period in 2010. Pre-tax profit increased to RM6.2 million, representing a fivefold increase from RM1.1 million.

Property development continued to be the major contributor to the Group’s revenue with currently launched developments such as U1 Shah Alam and One Sierra being key earnings providers. Moving forward, other contributors will be the Group’s Boulevard Business Park in Jalan Kuching as well as the Seri Jalil project in Bandar Bukit Jalil.

“We foresee our cash flow position to be further enhanced by progress payments from the sales of developments launched this year which have yet to be billed. So far, we have recorded sales in excess of RM400 million from our various projects, ” Dato Rahadian Mahmud, Executive Director, Magna Prima Berhad was quoted as saying.

Basic earnings per share improved by more than four fold to 2.51 cents during the period under review compared to 0.48 in the previous corresponding period. Compared to first quarter ended 31 March 2011, net gearing reduced to 0.65 compared to 0.79 during the first quarter while cash reserves increased to RM28 million as at 30 June 2011 compared to RM18.3 million during the immediate preceding quarter.

The Group recently announced its maiden overseas foray with the acquisition of a AUD$210 million (RM687.51 million) high-rise residential development called Dynasty Living. Construction on this development which is located within the northern precinct of the Melbourne Central Business District is expected to commence by year end and be completed in 2013. The indicative gross development cost is AUD$148 million (RM478.19 million). To date, sixty-two percent (62%) of the 320 units available have already been sold.

Nevertheless, because the project is based on the build then sell concept, this development is only expected to contribute to the Group’s earnings upon its completion in 2-year’s time.

In addition to the Dynasty Living which will be launched in Malaysia during the 2H11, the Group also has two other property launches in the pipeline. “The second phase of Boulevard Business Park @ Jalan Kuching which consists of a single serviced apartment block and a retail mall at the opposite end of the development, in addition to our proposed high-rise apartment project adjacent to the Group’s Alam D’16 project in Shah Alam will be launched, mindful of market appetite. This is to ensure that Magna Prima is able to maximize its returns from these projects. It has been a very active quarter for us and we expect this pace to continue for the rest of the year as we are optimistic about our portfolio of current and future projects,” noted Dato Rahadian Mahmud.