Ananda and LPN boost second-quarter profits, but Grand Canal slumps

While Ananda Development Plc and LPN Development Plc booked higher net profits for the quarter, Grand Canal Land Plc saw its earnings plunge, filings to the Stock Exchange of Thailand (SET) showed yesterday.
Grand Canal Land reported net profit of Bt22.01 million for the second quarter, diving 92 per cent from the Bt305 million reported for the same period of last year. 
For the first half, net profit was Bt94.83 million, down 74.27 per cent from the Bt368.7 million logged for the year-earlier period, the company’s statement to the SET said.
In contrast, Ananda Development made Bt584 million in net profit for the second quarter, soaring 109 per cent from the same period of last year. For the first half, net profit was Bt728.75, up 73.59 per cent from Bt419.81 million. 
LPN Development Plc booked total revenue of Bt2.28 billion for the second quarter, up 12.02 per cent from the Bt2.03 billion posted in the same period of last year. 
Net profit was Bt249 million for the quarter, up 0.14 per cent from the Bt248 million posted in the same period of last year. 
However, for the first half, the company reported net profit of Bt547.46 million, down 2.92 per cent from the Bt563.96 million recorded in the year-earlier quarter.
Ananda Development Plc’s chief executive officer Chanond Ruangkritya said in a press release yesterday that the company benefited from strong transfers of properties to customers in the second quarter, at Bt6.75 billion - an increase of 147 per cent over the same quarter of 2017 and 28 per cent above the company’s guidance. 
The company reported strong quarterly presales of Bt10.61 billion, 39 per cent above presales guidance. 
The developer is maintaining its annual transfer target for the year at Bt38 billion, which represents growth of 152 per cent year on year.
Following the strong net profit growth, the company’s board approved a record interim dividend of Bt0.115 per share, with an ex-date on August 22, and payment on September 5, Chanond said.
LPN Development Plc reported to the SET that the gross income of the company and its subsidiary companies in the second quarter was Bt2.28 billion, increasing 12.02 per cent from the same period of last year. 
The income from sales, along with rental and service fees, and management fees increased 11.53 per cent, 10.56 per cent and 16.85 per cent, respectively. Sales |promotion costs (excluding |ownership transfer expenses) rose 25.06 per cent as a result of the company’s attempt to liquidate inventory. 
Its net profit of Bt249 million in the second quarter was up 0.14 per cent from Bt248 million in the same period of last year. 
But in the first half of this year, the company reported net profit of Bt547.46 million, down 2.92 per cent from the Bt563.96 million posted in the same period of last year.
The company’s board approved an interim dividend of Bt0.2 per share, with an ex-dividend date of August 22, and payment on September 5, chief executive officer and managing director Opas Sripayak said in the company’s statement to the SET yesterday.