Property giant CapitaLand's net profit for its third quarter dropped 7.8 per cent to $333.9 million from $362.2 million a year ago, mainly due to lower portfolio gains, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing yesterday.

This was partially mitigated by a higher operating profit after tax and minority interest, which was mainly due to the maiden contribution from Ascendas-Singbridge, better contributions from China development projects and fee income from Vietnam.

With the completion of its acquisition of Ascendas-Singbridge in June, Raffles City Chongqing became a subsidiary of CapitaLand.

Ascendas-Singbridge and Raffles City Chongqing combined contributed $35.2 million to the group's net profit and $205.3 million to its revenue.

For the three months ended Sept 30, revenue jumped 37.1 per cent to $1.73 billion, from $1.26 billion in the previous year, mainly due to higher contributions from China development projects, contributions from Ascendas-Singbridge and CapitaLand's multi-family portfolio in the United States.

Residential projects contributing to revenue included Sky Habitat in Singapore and Mulberry Lane in Vietnam, said CapitaLand.

The first full-quarter contribution from Ascendas-Singbridge has provided an immediate uplift to the quality of CapitaLand's earnings, said group chief executive Lee Chee Koon.

"Year to date, we have divested more than $5.2 billion worth of assets and released $2.4 billion of net capital back to the group. This will enhance our financial flexibility to seize potential opportunities ahead," he added.

CapitaLand shares closed flat at $3.69 yesterday.