SINGAPORE - Mainboard-listed property company Sim Lian Group has announced its results for a strong quarter.

It announced yesterday that its net profit for the third quarter ending March 31 stood at $90.2 million, an increase of 426 per cent over the $17.1 million the group posted for the same period last year.

This steep growth rounded off a strong nine months, in which net profit stood at $187.2 million, an increase of 69 per cent over the same period last year when net profit stood at $110.6 million.

Its revenue for the quarter grew strongly as well. It stood at $634.3 million, an increase of 557 per cent over the $96.5 million the group posted for the same period last year.

For the nine months ending March 31, it posted a revenue of $1.1 billion, 143 per cent more than the $455 million it declared for the same period last year.

Sim Lian commented that its property development division contributed $576.6 million to the group's total revenue in this quarter, a major increase over the $52.3 million it contributed in the same quarter last year.

It said this higher contribution was mainly because of a development project completed in February this year, whose revenue and expenses had been accounted for with the completion of contract method.

It added that its construction division had contributed $45.7 million to the group's total revenue, 30 per cent more than it contributed in the same quarter last year. It said this was mainly due to an increase in the percentage of work done by the division.

Sim Lian's earnings per share increased to nine cents in this quarter, up from 1.7 cents in the same period last year, or 18.6 cents over nine months against 11 cents in the same period last year.

Its net asset value per share grew to $1.11, compared to 98 cents as at June 30 last year.

The group said its results were in line with the prospect commentary it had given in its financial statement for the period ended 31 December last year.

It said it expected the private residential property market to continue to be "challenging", citing property cooling measures as well as the restrictions on loans announced by the Monetary Authority of Singapore in June 2013.

It added that it expected profitable results for the financial year 2015, but also expected greater fluctuations in its future earnings as most of its ongoing projects were being accounted for with the completion of contract method.

The group would aim to build "a stable base of recurring income" to smoothen these fluctuations, it said.