SINGAPORE • The net profit of Malaysian property developer Hatten Land fell 49.4 per cent to RM10.8 million (S$3.6 million) for the second quarter ended Dec 31 last year, on the back of higher selling and distribution expenses, as well as general and administrative expenses.

This translated to an earnings per share of 0.79 sen for the quarter, down from 1.8 sen last year.

According to Hatten, selling and distribution expenses increased by RM2.2 million, or 29.2 per cent, for the quarter as the group intensified sales and marketing efforts for its projects under the "current challenging property market in Malaysia".

General and administrative expenses also increased by RM4.3 million, or 64.2 per cent, mainly due to one-off costs in relation to the issuance of shares to employees, additional corporate expenses incurred following a reverse takeover in January last year, and a non-recurring back-charge of third-party expenses for the last corresponding financial period.

For the second quarter, revenue dropped to RM43.4 million from RM113.8 million in the same period a year ago, due to construction delays at Hatten City Phase 2, partially offset by higher contributions from sales at Harbour City and Hatten City Phase 1.

No dividend has been declared for the second quarter of fiscal 2018, unchanged from the previous year.

This year, the group remains on track to launch Harbour City Luxury Hotel, the last phase of its flagship Harbour City project in Malacca.

On its website, the developer described Harbour City as a mixed development consisting of a mall, a water theme park and three hotel blocks.

Hatten's executive chairman and managing director, Mr Colin Tan, noted that Malacca was the second-most visited state in Malaysia last year, with 16.7 million tourists.

He said: "The state's growth is anchored by mega infrastructure and tourism projects, which will bolster the value of our properties and underpin future demand."

He added that the completion of phase 2 of Hatten City, which is expected in the third quarter of the 2018 financial year, will allow the immediate conversion of sales into billings.