Singapore's Global Logistic Q4 net profit triples

SINGAPORE May 24 (Reuters) - Singapore's Global Logistic Properties (GLP) said on Thursday its fourth-quarter net profit tripled from a year earlier, boosted by fair value gains on its properties in China and Japan.

The company earned $156.5 million for the three months ended in March, up from $49.2 million a year earlier. It recognised a net fair value gain of $55.8 million for the quarter, compared with a net fair value loss of $8.9 million a year earlier.

Net profit excluding revaluation rose 16 percent to $69.4 million on the back of a 23 percent increase in revenue.

GLP said the higher revenue was due mainly to the completion and stabilisation of its development projects in China and contributions from Transfar Logistics Base Co Ltd and Airport City Development Co Ltd, as well as the strengthening of the Japanese yen and Chinese yuan against the U.S. dollar.

GLP said it sees solid demand from various customer segments in China. Demand from local companies in China accounted for an increasing proportion of its business, it said.

Japan's economy has recovered from the earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, GLP said, adding the country's logistics industry has been driven by the third-party logistics market and the e-commerce sector has seen strong growth. (Reporting by Eveline Danubrata)