SINGAPORE (Aug 10): Boustead Singapore reported 1Q18 earnings of $2.9 million, down 58% from $7 million in 1Q17.
This was significantly due to currency exchange effects which in turn caused a swing to other losses of $1.65 million in 1Q18 from other gains of $883,000 in 1Q17.
Net profit declined at a faster pace than total profit due to higher contributions by Boustead Projects to total profit, which resulted in the dilutive effect of the higher non-controlling interests on net profit.
For 1Q18, the group registered revenue of $90.3 million, a 21% decrease from $113.7 million a year ago.
Finance expenses fell 28% y-o-y to $483,000 in 1Q18 compared to $671,000 in 1Q17 following the scheduled repayment of borrowings by Boustead Projects in relation to the industrial leasehold portfolio.
The group’s current order book backlog stands at about $209 million, of which $72 million is under the Energy-Related Engineering Division and $137 million is under the Real Estate Solutions Division.
Wong Fong Fui, Chairman and Group CEO of Boustead, says, “Our Real Estate Solutions Division and Geo-Spatial Technology Division delivered respectable results. We continue to boost business development efforts across all three divisions. In addition, we will continue to apply our already prudent cost management measures.”
The group believes that it will continue to be profitable in FY18, but the normalised levels of profit will not be comparable to FY17.
Shares in Boustead last traded at 94 cents on Thursday.
