Malaysian-based property developer Aspen (Group) Holdings is expecting a net loss for its 1HFY2022 ended December 2021.
Based on its preliminary review and assessment of current information, the net loss for the period is attributable mainly due to the unprecedented business disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic to the operations of the group.
For the property development sector, the temporary halt of the construction works of the group’s ongoing projects, namely Vivo Executive Apartment and Viluxe, to comply with the full Movement Control Order (MCO) imposed by the Malaysian government to curb the spread of the Covid-19 infection in the country, as well as the severe supply chain disruptions and unskilled foreign labour shortage due to the temporary entry ban to Malaysia, has severely impacted the construction progress.
This was further compounded by the tight Covid-19 standard operating procedure (SOP) set by the government on the resumption of construction activities.
Despite recording a significant increase in unbilled sales and bookings in 4QFY2021, underpinned by the increase in demand for the group’s overall development properties, especially in Aspen Vision City, the group says that it was unable to realise revenue from the new sales owing to the delay in the construction progress, longer legal documentation processes and slow turnaround by various government agencies caused by the Covid-19 SOPs.
In addition, the group’s healthcare sector was impacted by the ongoing global supply chain challenges, higher shipping and logistics costs, prolonged shipping delays, higher production and energy costs, lower capacity utilisation rate and continuous decline in the average selling prices (ASP) of gloves.
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The group is still in the midst of finalising its results for the said period and will announce its financial performance on or before Feb 14.
Shares in Aspen closed at 7 cents on Jan 28.
