SINGAPORE (May 9): Aspial Corp, the property and and pawnbroking group, saw earnings for the 1Q ended March rise 20% to $7.6 million from $6.3 million a year ago on a surge in revenue despite netting a foreign exchange (forex) loss over the quarter.
Group revenue for the quarter grew 51% to $212.4 million from $140.9 million previously, mainly due to significantly improved performance from its real estate business on the progressive recognition of sales from CityGate, as well as revenue from the settlement and handover of completed residential units for Avant project in Melbourne, Australia.
The financial services business segment also delivered significant revenue growth driven by higher interest income from its pawnbroking and secured lending businesses and higher sales from the retail and trading of jewellery and branded merchandise business.
Meanwhile, Aspial’s jewellery business recorded an improvement in revenue despite a smaller retail network, drive by increased sales from its new gold bullion shops.
However, both the real estate and financial service business segments were affected by forex losses amounting to $5.9 million – whereas the jewellery business recorded one-off costs for the termination of leases and loss incurred by its bullion business, offset fully by reduced operating expenses.
Excluding the forex exchange differences, group pre-tax profit would have been $18.7 million compared to $6.4 million in 1Q17, compared to the current $12.8 million in 1Q18 versus 1Q17’s pre-tax profit of $10.7 million.
Going forward, Aspial is especially positive on the prospects of its real estate business, as it expects to receive a total of more than $700 million of sales proceeds when its development units due for completion in 2018 are handed over.
To keep the growth momentum of its financial service business, the group says it will continue to invest in brand building, improve its merchandise range, and review the retail network.
As for the jewellery business, it expects consumer sentiment to improve in 2018 and it will continue its efforts to improve the segment’s operational effectiveness and efficiency.
Shares in Aspial closed 2% higher at 26 cents on Wednesday.
