SINGAPORE (Apr 26): Soilbuild Construction Group saw its net profit fall 64.3% to $132,000 for the 1Q ended March, from $370,000 a year ago.
In a filing to SGX on Thursday, the group says this was mainly to the increase in foreign exchange losses, and the increase in depreciation charge on property, plant and equipment and amortisation charges on land lease prepayments.
1Q18 revenue dropped 40.4% to $39.7 million, from $66.6 million a year ago.
This was mainly due to completion of major projects in Singapore, while on-going projects are only expected to contribute higher revenue when they progress to more advanced stages of construction activities in forthcoming periods.
As at end March, cash and cash equivalents stood at $15.5 million.
The group's order book stood at $399.9 million as at Mar 31, 2018. These comprise $236.8 million from local construction projects and $163.1 million from Myanmar construction projects.
Looking ahead, the group says it expects demand for construction activities in the local market to remain weak in the near term and for competition in tenders to continue to be challenging.
“The continued weakness in the local construction sector in 2018 has resulted in competitive bids for tenders of new projects in both private sector and public sector. The group will keep focusing on its productivity on existing projects, as well as active participation in tenders for new projects in Singapore and Myanmar markets,” says Ho Toon Bah, executive director of Soilbuild Construction Group.
Shares of Soilbuild Construction last closed at 15 cents on Apr 24.
