Citigroup expects Yanlord to report 2007 net profit of 263 million dollars compared to 171 million dollars in 2006.

SINGAPORE, Nov 12, 2007 (Thomson Financial via COMTEX) -- YLDGF | charts | news | PowerRating -- Citigroup said Monday it has lifted its target price on Yanlord Land Group Ltd, a Singapore-listed property developer in China, to 4.91 Singapore dollars a share from 3.97 dollars previously as it expects the company to post robust earnings for the full year despite weaker third-quarter results.

Yanlord reported last week that net profit fell 11 percent to 34.6 million dollars in the third quarter from a year earlier as it has yet to book profits from residential projects already sold.

The company generated 1.1 billion dollars in sales from pre-sold properties under development but the income will only be recognized from the fourth quarter onwards as project construction progresses.

"In our view, the third-quarter results were not a meaningful benchmark for 2007 (results) as there was a significant mismatch between expenses booking and revenue recognition," Citigroup said.

Citigroup expects Yanlord to report 2007 net profit of 263 million dollars compared to 171 million dollars in 2006. The net profit is expected to rise further to 365 million dollars next year and to 487 million dollars in 2009.

At 11.20 am, Yanlord was down 14 cents or 4.1 percent at 3.30 dollars with 5.83 million shares traded.