Treasury Holdings’ Chinese arm reports €10.4m profits

THE Chinese arm of Irish property development company Treasury Holdings has reported a net after-tax profit of nearly €10.4 million for the third quarter of the year, the company’s first set of financial figures since changing its name, management structure and stock market listing.

Treasury China Trust (TCT) — formerly known as China Real Estate Opportunities (CREO) and switched its public listing from London’s Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to the Singapore Stock Exchange, in June — generated a post-tax profit of SGD (Singapore Dollar)$18.67m for the period in question.

The company — of which Dublin-based Treasury controls around 40% — has also announced a maiden dividend yield, for investors, of SGD2.5c per unit, for the quarter, and is committed to paying the same yield for the fourth quarter of the year.

TCT is also optimistic about occupancy rates within its portfolio and expects an improvement on its current 87% level by the end of the year.

In terms of outlook, the company said that it sees the fundamentals of the commercial property market in China to be sound and TCT as having a strong brand and being “well-positioned amongst existing and prospective tenants”.

TCT has also confirmed it has successfully re-financed its existing loan agreement for its headline 22-storey office/retail Central Plaza property in Shanghai, with Citic Kawah Bank, which had been due for repayment next July. Over the past 10 months, the company has refinanced more than US$525m worth of loan facilities and cut its cost of debt by nearly half, which translated into savings of SGD$20m per annum.