SINGAPORE (May 9): Koh Brothers Group, the developer and engineering solutions provider, reported a 68% decline in 1Q17 net profit to $1.1 million from $3.4 million a year ago despite a 67% topline growth to $88.8 million.
Gross profit came in at $9.13 million, down 11% from $10.25 million a year ago mainly due to lower gross profit margin.
Other losses increased by 116% to $0.58 million. There was a credit in distribution expenses of $0.34 million during the quarter arising from a write-back of allowance made for impairment on trade receivables. Other expenses increased to $2.16 million mainly due to allowance for impairment of loan to joint ventures. Finance expenses also increased to $1.39 million mainly due to increase in bank borrowings.
The stronger topline was lifted by a 146.9% rise in Construction and Building Materials revenue to $78.1 million compared to $53.2 million a year ago.
Share of result from joint ventures recorded a profit of $1.41 million, mainly due to higher profit contributed by Sun Plaza.
Looking ahead, the group expects the private residential market to remain challenging as the property cooling measures continue to weigh on the residential market.
Shares of Koh Brothers closed at 30 cents on Tuesday.
