Property developer GSH Corporation reported a 75.9% fall in 1H20 earnings to $0.4 million, down from $1.6 million a year ago.
Accordingly, earnings per share (EPS) for the half-year period fell 80% to 0.020 cents from the 0.084 cents in 1H19.
Revenue rose 14.7% y-o-y to $65.8 million due to the continued progressive sales recognition from its residential development projects in Malaysia, Eaton Residences in Kuala Lumpur, and Coral Bay in Kota Kinabalu.
Cost of sales for 1H20 increased by 61.3% y-o-y to $43.2 million.
Revenue in GSH Corp’s property business segment rose 94% y-o-y to $41.8 million due to the same sales recognition from its two residential development projects in Malaysia.
Revenue from its hospitality arm, comprising two hotels in Sutera Harbour Resort and an island resort in the Mantanani Islands in Sabah, fell 58.8% y-o-y to $14.8 million due to the impact from the pandemic and the subsequent Movement Control Order (MCO).
The group’s trading segment – through its 50.4%-owned joint venture company, GSH International Enterprise – posted revenue of $9.2 million. This is the first results released by the segment since it commenced operations in late 2019.
The joint venture, which provides a fully-integrated, one-stop frozen foods supply chain through the major ports in China, plans to develop an online B2B platform to integrate suppliers, logistics providers and buyers onto one portal.
As at end June, cash and cash equivalents stood at $95.9 million.
“For the present moment, the easing of domestic travel within Malaysia, which commenced in June 2020, has partially helped to invigorate our hotel business. Meanwhile construction works have resumed for Eaton Residences and Coral Bay, and we are planning to launch our second project in Kuala Lumpur at an appropriate time,” says Gilbert Ee, CEO of GSH Corp.
“We are also excited about our foray in China – a luxury residential and hotel development project in Bishan District, Chongqing. Construction of the hotel is slated for completion by end 2022, while the residential component is targeted to commence in early 2023 and complete by end 2024,” he adds.
Shares in GSH Corp closed 0.2 cents higher, or 1.1% up at 18.8 cents on August 6, prior to the announcement.
