Ho Bee slow to sell Sentosa projects

No sale this year yet.

In 2Q13, Ho Bee's revenue from property development dipped 97.7% y-y to S$3.3mn. For the six months ended 30 June 2013, revenue decreased 64.8% from S$174.7mn to S$61.4mn.

Lucas Tan of PhillipCapital said that this was due mainly to lower revenue recognition, as the bulk of One Pemimpin was recognized previously.

"Ho Bee did not record any residential sales for its Sentosa residential units and continues to have majority of their unsold inventory concentrated there," he said while noting that with the cooling measures instilled, demand for new units at Sentosa has dwindled.

As of Dec 31, 2012, Only 47% of Turquoise's 91 units were snapped up while only 28% of Seascape's 158 units were sold.

Ho Bee's Pinnacle Collection is not launched yet.

Backed by its stellar financial position, Tan said that it bodes well for Ho Bee to hold out, pending favorable sales timing for its unsold residential units.

"We expect weak local residential sales for the remaining of FY2013," he said.