Starhill pretax profit up by 13%

Starhill pretax profit up by 13%

PETALING JAYA: Starhill Real Estate Investment Trust has posted a pretax profit to RM19.3mil for its fourth quarter ended June 30, a 13% increase over the RM17mil in the same period last year.

Revenue for the period was also up at RM26mil compared to last year's RM23.5mil.

Earnings per share and proposed dividend per share meanwhile stood at 1.74 sen and 2.15 sen respectively.

For the financial year ended June 30, the trust made a pre-tax profit of RM72.7mil compared with last year's RM35.9mil.

Revenue was also higher at RM98.8mil compared with RM50.7mil in 2006.

In notes to Bursa Malaysia on Thrusday, Starhill said rental received from newly acquired property and higher rental rates received from the renewal of existing tenancies contributed to the rise in revenue and pre-tax profit.

It also cited the commencement of new tenancies of its existing investment properties as another positive factor.

It said upon consideration of the strength of the real estate portfolio invested, the trust was expected to achieve satisfactory performance for financial year ending June 30, 2008.