KUALA LUMPUR (May 5): Wing Tai Malaysia Bhd’s net profit slid 42% to RM8.5 million in the third quarter ended Mar 31, 2015, from RM14.6 million in the previous corresponding quarter as the group was hit by the slowdown in the property market and weak consumer spending.

Revenue declined 27% to RM82.99 million from RM113.47 million a year earlier.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, Wing Tai (fundamental: 1.5; valuation: 2.4) said for the nine-month period net profit jumped 27.6% to RM52.31 million from RM40.99 million in the same period last year, but revenue declined 13.3% to RM249.8 million from RM288.0 million previously.

The property developer that also delves into lifestyle and fashion retailing said its higher profit for the nine months was mainly due to gain on disposal of shares in its joint venture (JV) PT Windas Development in Indonesia.

It said the lower revenue from the property development division was mainly attributable to lower revenue recognition from its Verticas Residensi project.

With the lower revenue, the operating profit of the property development division generated RM16.5 million compared with RM31.5 million in the corresponding period.

At its retail division, Wing Tai said revenue stood at RM136.3 million compared with RM146.4 million in the corresponding period.

It reported a lower operating profit of RM19.4 million versus RM23.6 million a year ago due to soft market flushed with discount and the weakening of ringgit.

Nevertheless, Wing Tai’s recorded share of profit from JVs grew higher to RM9.8 million from RM4.6 million previously.

In consideration of prevailing market conditions and barring any unforeseen circumstances, Wing Tai expects to remain profitable for the current financial year.

Wing Tai share price has been hovering within a tight range between RM1.70 and RM1.80 since the start of the year. It closed at RM1.75 with a market capitalisation of RM553.7 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)