First Sponsor Group has reported earnings of $93.02 million for the FY2024 ended Dec 31, 2024, up 642.8% y-o-y.
For the 2HFY2024 earnings came in at $81.1 million.
The group recorded a revenue growth of 12.2% for FY2024 of $317.56 million, up from the $282.9 million in the same period a year ago. However, 2HFY2024 revenue declined by 1.6% y-o-y to $144.7 million.
The group says that the increase in earnings is due to a maiden profit contribution from NSI, a Dutch commercial property listed on Euronext Amsterdam, as an associated company of the group.
The European property holding portfolio generated €27.3 million ($38.33 million) of operating income in 2HFY2024, a 5.6% increase from the same period last year. This was due mainly to the full period contribution from the Allianz Tower Rotterdam, which was acquired in September 2023, and stronger contributions from the Utrecht Centraal hotels and the Dutch Bilderberg hotels.
Also, higher fair value gain and net gain on settlement from the group’s financial derivative portfolio, offset by higher foreign exchange loss. In December, the group commenced legal action against a borrower in the Shanghai court to recover an outstanding loan principal of RMB375.8 million. The first hearing has been scheduled for March 2025.
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The group also saw growth in earnings due to higher fair value gain from its investment properties, but this was partially offset by a write-down of some of the properties in China and impairment of goodwill acquisition of the Dutch Bilderberg hotels.
Any further interest rate cut in the regions that the group operates in, namely the EU, China and Australia, will have a positive impact on the group.
The board has recommended a final tax-exempt (one-tier) cash dividend of 3.55 cents per share if approved, which will result in a total dividend for FY2024 of 4.65 cents per share.
Shares in First Sponsor Group closed 1 cent lower or 0.917% down at $1.08 on Feb 25.
