Keppel Land's residential profits dropped 16% to $272m

Blame it on high comparison base.

According to DBS, Keppel Land booked S$567m net profit for 4QFY13 (+7.6% y-o-y), taking full year profit to S$1,008m (+5.7%). 

While gross margin edged down to 26% in the quarter, bottomline was aided by S$331m revaluation surplus and S$148m gain from the sale of 51% stake in Jakarta Garden City.

Here's more from DBS:

Stripping out these one-off items, net profit fell 5% y-o-y to S$431m but was still ahead of our estimate.

The group has proposed a final DPS of 13Scts which implies c4% yield. 

Residential profits fell 16% y-o-y to S$272m due to a high comparison base from Reflections at Keppel Bay last year. In FY13, the group booked profits from ongoing projects and the sale of 370 units at Corals at Keppel Bay and The Glades (120 units sold at $1,450psf).

It also saw higher China profits from 8 Park Ave, Springdale and Botanica. Rental income jumped to S$125m with larger contributions from Keppel REIT, MBFC Tower 3 and Life Hub @ Jinqiao.

The group will focus on four core markets with a target capital allocation of 35-40% for Singapore and China, and the rest for Indonesia and Vietnam. It will also seek opportunistic investments in Myanmar and Sri Lanka. At 0.38x gearing, the group can deploy more capital into these markets to scale up its presence to compete with peers and local players.