Mapletree Investments, the real estate unit of Singapore’s state investment firm Temasek Holdings, posted an 87% surge in full-year profit and presented a five-year growth plan.

Net income rose to $393.8 million in the year ended March 31 from $210.3 million the previous year, helped by new developments and gains from the increased value of its holdings, the Singapore-based company said at a press briefing in the city-state today. Total assets under management climbed 9% to $12.9 billion in the year.

 

“In a nutshell what the new business plan entails is doubling up, gearing up our business by two times in terms of size,” Hiew Yoon Khong, Mapletree’s chief executive officer, said at the briefing. “Other performance metrics that we are targeting such as profitability and fee income we expect to scale up considerably in the next four to five years.”

 

Mapletree’s shift since 2004 to an Asia-focused private- equity growth model from a Singapore-based traditional real estate firm has spurred growth. The company aims to almost double assets under management to $25 billion in five years, with a focus on China, India and Vietnam, Hiew said today.

 

Mapletree owns about S$6.8 billion of real estate assets including office, logistics, industrial business park and retail properties, up from $6.2 billion the previous year. It also manages S$6.1 billion of third-party assets across Asia, an increase from S$5.6 billion a year earlier.

 

Revenue increased to $453.5 million in the year from $444.9 million the previous year. Mapletree, which currently manages two real estate investment trusts, plans to launch more such country-focused funds, including industrial and property trusts, the CEO said.

 

The company may list Mapletree Industrial Trust, which has assets of S$1.73 billion, this year, Chief Financial Officer Wong Mun Hoong said at the press meeting.

 

Mapletree said in September it planned to list a real estate investment trust in Singapore that may hold as much as $4 billion in assets. The proposed Mapletree Commercial Trust will hold properties including Vivocity, Singapore’s biggest shopping mall; the PSA Building, which houses the nation’s port authority; and St. James PowerStation, a nightspot, Sonny Phua, a Mapletree spokesman, said on Sept. 12.

 

Mapletree plans to set up private funds focusing on investing in China and Vietnam within the next two years, Chief Investment Officer Chua Tiow Chye said.

 

The main markets remain China, India and Vietnam, especially for commercial, residential and retail businesses, the CEO said. For logistics, the company will continue to be “very active” in acquisitions, particularly in Japan. Mapletree will expand its industrial portfolio “quite significantly” outside Singapore, particularly in China and Japan, Hiew said.

 

The company is “quite optimistic” about Singapore’s office market because of the economic growth outlook in the next three years, Hiew said. “We will fight for leadership in this particular segment.”