{
  "id": 762377,
  "title": "Centurion’s growth story stays anchored in Singapore with Kranji Close win",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/13/centurions-growth-story-stays-anchored-in-singapore-with-kranji-close",
  "topic": "finance",
  "section": "Finance & Markets",
  "published": "2026-08-13T11:48:40.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Business Times - Companies & Markets",
    "slug": "the-business-times-companies-markets",
    "url": "https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/reits-property/centurions-growth-story-stays-anchored-singapore-kranji-close-win"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "Centurion Corporation, a specialist accommodation provider, continues to focus its growth trajectory in Singapore, where it recently secured a significant 7,000-bed dormitory site at Kranji Close. The company's first half revenue for the period ending June 30th, 2023, was S$184.9 million, representing a 31% increase from the previous year. Local revenue, which accounted for 70% of the group's total income, grew by 31% year on year, driven by the consolidation of Westlite Mandai and the addition of operational beds at Westlite Toh Guan and Westlite Mandai. Net profit, however, fell 64% to S$26.5 million, a decline attributed to a wider fair-value loss on investment properties and a share of losses from associated companies. Despite this, Centurion's core business operations, excluding fair-value adjustments and one-off items, saw a 34% year-on-year increase in net profit to S$87.7 million. The company declared an interim dividend of S$0.02 per share, which will be paid out on September 30th. Centurion's Singapore worker dormitories currently have an average financial occupancy rate of 94%, slightly lower than the 99% average in the previous year. The company anticipates improved occupancy in the second half of the year. Centurion also placed the top bid for a second dormitory site, winning the Kranji Close site on August 5th with the highest bid of S$343 million. The 22,079-square-meter plot on a 30-year lease with a gross plot ratio of 3.0 is expected to commence operations by the third quarter of 2028. The group holds about 38.25% of the shares in its Centurion Accommodation Real Estate Investment Trust (CAReit), and CEO Kong Chee Min stated that the stake would not fall below 30% to maintain focus on the specialized accommodation sector. In Malaysia, Centurion operates 13 assets with 36,006 beds, with revenue rising 31% to S$12.5 million, though occupancy slightly decreased to 73% due to foreign worker quota caps.",
  "summary": "Group will not let its CAReit stake fall below 30%, says CEO Kong Chee Min",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}