Boustead Singapore, the engineering services and geo-spatial technology group, saw earnings surge 76% to $21.8 million for the 1HFY2021 ended Sept 30, from the $12.4 million registered a year ago.
1HFY2021 revenue dipped slightly at 1% y-o-y to $289.7 million. While the Covid-19 pandemic did not have a large impact on the group’s overall revenue performance, the group reported “high variability” in the impact on the individual revenue performances in each division.
Impairment loss on financial assets and contract assets stood at $1.5 million the year before.
Similarly, share of loss of associated companies and joint ventures came in at $94,000 for the 1HFY2021 compared to the $1.5 million in 1HFY2020.
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Earnings per share (EPS) rose 80% y-o-y to 4.5 cents for the 1HFY2021.
Profit before tax climbed 28% y-o-y to $31.8 million mainly due to better gross margins.
With the exception of Boustead Projects, profit before tax across Boustead Singapore’s divisions saw y-o-y improvements led by stronger performances from the Energy Engineering and Geospatial Divisions.
The growth in profit was achieved on stable y-o-y revenue and better gross margins. The higher figures were also due to effective cost management measures, the absence of impairment losses, lower finance expenses and share of losses of associated companies and joint ventures, as well as the grants received from the Jobs Support Scheme (JSS) of $4.9 million.
On a like-for-like basis, after adjusting for other losses net of non-controlling interests, impairment losses, a one-off legal settlement amount paid by Boustead Projects and grants received from the JSS, net profit for 1HFY2021 would have been 114% higher y-o-y.
As at Sept 30, the group’s current order backlog stood at $650 million, lower compared to the order backlog of $789 million a year ago.
Furthermore, the Geospatial Division had $100 million in deferred services backlog remaining at the end of 1H FY2021.
To date, the group has been awarded some $146 million in new contracts.
The board has declared an interim dividend of 1 cent per share for the period, same as the interim dividend declared the year before.
Cash and cash equivalents as at Sept 30 stood at $294.6 million.
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“Even with our credible performance in 1H FY2021, the pandemic and global situation continue to be of immense concern, in almost every respect. Furthermore, demand deficit and ongoing travel restrictions have made it extremely challenging to conduct meaningful business development activities,” says Wong Fong Fui, chairman and group CEO of Boustead.
“As we expect steady results for FY2021, our attention will now be turned towards securing business opportunities to underpin FY2022 and medium-term performance,” he adds.
Shares in Boustead closed 1 cent higher or 1.4% up at 74.5 cents on Nov 12.
