Singapore’s Centurion More Than Doubles Profit to $257M as Valuations Soar

Singaporean developer Centurion Corp’s profit more than doubled in 2024, as the specialist in student and worker housing rode a surge in valuations of investment properties.

The company’s full-year attributable profit shot up 125 percent to S$344.8 million ($257 million), boosted by net fair value gains of S$219.1 million, Centurion said Wednesday in a release. Excluding fair value adjustments, net profit from core business operations rose 45 percent to S$110.8 million, the company said.

Revenue climbed 22 percent to S$253.6 million, driven by rental revisions in the key markets of Singapore, Britain and Australia. Centurion CEO Kong Chee Min highlighted strong occupancy in the company’s core business of purpose-built accommodation, with demand-supply dynamics in the sector continuing to support positive rental rate revisions.

“Our ongoing efforts to explore opportunities in new markets and asset classes further demonstrate the resilience of our business, positioning us to deliver sustainable, long-term value to our stakeholders,” Kong said. “We have also begun exploration of a proposed transaction involving the establishment of a real estate investment trust and will keep shareholders updated on any significant progress.”

Building Up Beds

Average occupancy in Centurion’s worker housing segment dipped from 96 percent the previous year to 94 percent in 2024, largely due to a reduction in Malaysia as beds were unavailable during asset enhancement works. In the student housing segment, occupancy rose from 92 percent to 97 percent on solid demand in the UK and Australia.

Centurion’s Hong Kong student housing projects, Dwell Prince Edward and Dwell Ho Man Tin, are building up occupancy with expectations for take-up to rise ahead of the start of the academic year in the third quarter of 2025, the company said. The group’s 550-bed worker housing facility in the New Territories, known as Westlite Sheung Shui, opened in November.

To comply with new standards in Singapore, Centurion is redeveloping Westlite Toh Guan to add 1,764 worker beds by December and Westlite Mandai to add 3,696 worker beds by next year. In Malaysia, Centurion is revamping Westlite Johor Tech Park to add 870 worker beds by the fourth quarter and exploring a potential worker housing project in Johor with 7,000 beds.

In Australia, the company is redeveloping a carpark into a 600-bed student housing block and developing a 732-bed student accommodation in Sydney. A 575-bed project serving RMIT University Melbourne is in the planning approval process.

Centurion has also set up joint ventures for a pair of build-to-rent projects in China’s Xiamen. Under the Centurion-Cityhome Gaolin project, the group has secured master leases for 400 out of 1,000 apartments, which began operations last month. For Centurion-Cityhome Linxia, the group will convert a newly built residential asset into 500 apartments, secured under a 20-year master lease.

REIT Rumblings

Centurion announced last month that it was considering the launch of an SGX-listed REIT, potentially braving an initial public offering after a lacklustre 2024 for the market’s property trusts.

The REIT’s portfolio would comprise some of the developer’s student and worker housing assets. The trust would be sponsored by Centurion, which is working with DBS Bank and the UBS Singapore branch on the plan.

Centurion owns and manages 37 purpose-built accommodation assets totalling 69,929 beds, including worker housing in Singapore, Malaysia and China; student housing in Australia, Britain, the US and China; and build-to-rent assets in China.

The company’s SGX-listed shares were down about 3 percent in Thursday afternoon trading.