SINGAPORE (May 8): OKP Holdings, the infrastructure and civil engineering company, reported earnings more than doubled to $5.1 million in 1Q17 from $1.9 million in 1Q16.
The stronger bottomline was in line with the higher revenue, gross profit and an increase in share of results of associated companies and joint ventures of $1.9 million.
Earnings per share increased to 1.64 cents in 1Q17 from 0.6 cent in 1Q16.
The increase was mainly due to a $1.6 million gain from the share of profit from a joint venture, Lakehomes, the developer of the LakeLife Executive Condominium, based on the recognition of profits from units of the development which were ready for handover during the first quarter ended March.
Quarterly revenue increased 21% to $29.7 million due mainly to a 139.5% surge in maintenance revenue to $9.2 million. This was attributable to the higher percentage of revenue recognised from a number of both existing and newly awarded maintenance projects as they progressed to a more active phase in 1Q17. Revenue from the construction segment dipped 1% to $20.5 million.
As at end March, OKP had a net construction order book of $306.1 million, with projects extending till 2019.
OKP says demand from the public sector construction segment is expected to surge from about $15.8 billion last year to between $20.0 billion and $24.0 billion this year.
In the public sector construction segment, demand is expected to be between $18.0 billion and $23.0 billion per annum from 2018 to 2021.
In addition, the Government will also be bringing forward $700 million worth of public sector infrastructure projects to start construction in 2017 and 2018. These include building projects such as the upgrading of community clubs and sports facilities.
Group Managing Director Or Toh Wat says, “Given that 70% of these infrastructure projects will be from the public sector, and as a key player in the public sector arena, we remain optimistic that we are well positioned to capture opportunities from this strong pipeline of public projects being brought forward to 2017. We will actively pursue new projects while delivering on our order book.”
Shares of OKP closed at 40 cents on Monday before the announcement.
