Finance

For 2002, Group attributable profit amounted to $26.4 million. This profit was arrived at after accounting for exceptional net loss items of $67.9 million (due mainly to the sale of Capital Square). Excluding the exceptional items, Group attributable profit for the year was $94.3 million.

Earnings per share was 3.7 cents, compared with loss per share of 52 cents in 2001.

Proposed dividend per share was 3.5 cents, or 0.5 cents more than the previous year.

At end-2002, shareholders’ funds decreased by 6.4% to $1,480 million. This was due mainly to the revaluation deficit adjustments made for the Group’s investment properties, partly offset by the attributable profit for the year. Return on shareholders' funds was 1.7%, compared with a loss in 2001.

SALES

Consolidated sales were $298.9 million versus $300.5 million for the previous year. Revenue from Property Investment declined by 4.2% on account of lower occupancies of the Group’s office buildings and the sale of Capital Square towards the end of the year. Property Trading sales rose by 7.6% on the back of projects in Singapore and the initial sales recognition of One Park Avenue in Shanghai. Hospitality and Property Services showed a decrease of 9.1% in sales due mainly to lower revenues achieved by the Group’s hotels and lower marketing commissions.

EARNINGS

Operating profit was $119.2 million, compared with $123.9 million for 2001. The Group’s share of associated companies’ profit was $15.2 million compared with $8.4 million in 2001.