SINGAPORE (May 9): Water company Hyflux sank to a net loss of $22.2 million for the 1Q ended March, from a restated net loss of $64,000 a year ago.
This was mainly due to lower revenue during the quarter, as well as the absence of a one-off gain of $16.5 million from the disposal of the group’s 50% stake in its Galaxy Newspring joint venture last year.
Excluding Tuaspring Integrated Water and Power Project, which has been classified as Held for Sale since the announcement for the planned partial divestment in February last year, Hyflux’s 1Q18 revenue fell 21% to $72.0 million, from $91.5 million a year ago.
This was due mainly to lower revenue from the Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC) activities from the TuasOne Waste-to-Energy (WTE) project in Singapore and the Qurayyat Independent Water Project (IWP) in the Sultanate of Oman, in line with construction schedules.
As at end March, cash and cash equivalents stood at $239.1 million.
Looking ahead, the group says its performance over the next 12 months will still be largely driven by the Singapore power market, which has seen improvement in wholesale electricity prices over the past two months.
However, the group says a stronger rebound at a sustained pace will be needed for Hyflux to turn profitable in 2018.
Shares of Hyflux closed 1 cent down, or 4.5% lower, at 21 cents on Wednesday.
