Starhill REIT fourth quarter profit rises 13% to RM19.3mil

Financials For 4^th Quarter ended 30/6/07:For pre-tax profit, posted a 13% increase to RM19.3mil for its fourth quarter ended June 30 compared with RM17mil a year earlier. 

• Revenue was also up at RM26mil against RM23.5mil previously. 
• Earnings per share stood at 1.74 sen and
• Starhill REIT proposed a per share dividend of 2.15 sen. 
• For the full-year, it made a pre-tax profit of RM72.7mil compared with RM35.9mil the year before while revenue was also higher at RM98.8mil against RM50.7mil in 2006. 
• The higher revenue and profit are due to  rentals received from newly-acquired property, The Residences at Ritz-Carlton in Kuala Lumpur, and higher rental rates from renewal of existing tenancies as well as commencement of new tenancies at its existing investment properties contributed to the rise in revenue and pre-tax profit.
• Starhill REIT said that considering the strength of the real estate portfolio invested, it expected to achieve satisfactory performance in the year ending June 30, 2008.(13/7/07-The Star Malaysia)