SINGAPORE (May 13): Oxley Holdings saw it earnings jump 121% to $67.4 million for the 3Q19 ended March, from $30.6 million a year ago.
Earnings per share (EPS) grew to 1.64 cents for 3Q19, compared to 0.78 cent in 3Q18.
The increase was largely attributable to a one-off fair value gain on the commercial building at 30 Raffles Place, formerly known as Chevron House. As a result, other gains for 3Q19 increased to $101.5 million, compared with $33.1 million in 3Q18.
3Q19 revenue fell 75% to $59.9 million, from $238.8 million a year ago.
The decline was mainly due to lower revenue contribution from its project in the United Kingdom.
Marketing and distribution costs nearly trebled to $5.2 million, from $1.8 million a year ago.
The increase was mainly attributable to higher expenses incurred for the advertising of the projects in Singapore and overseas, show flat expenses and sales commission for the project in Ireland, in addition to sales and marketing expenses incurred by the hotels at Stevens Road, which commenced operations in the middle of 2Q18.
Finance costs rose 71% to $26.4 million, from $15.5 million a year ago, mainly due to an increase in amount of bank loans to support the group’s acquisitions of properties and for advances extended to joint ventures, as well as higher interest rates.
As at end March, cash and cash equivalents stood at $270.0 million.
“Oxley has seen good sales progress in its development projects in Singapore and across the globe since the beginning of the financial year 2019. The Singapore residential portfolio has achieved commendable sales of more than 2,168 units given the current market sentiments. We expect the sales momentum to improve further before the end of the current financial year,” says Ching Chiat Kwong, executive chairman and CEO of Oxley.
“The group’s deleveraging efforts continue to gain traction as we are in the process of selling the property at 30 Raffles Place,” he adds.
Shares in Oxley closed 1.6% lower at 30 cents on Monday.