Published March 28, 2009

Strong Q4 lifts profit of Low Keng Huat

Full year profit hits $29.35 million, more than doubling earnings of $13.69 million for preceding year

By JOYCE HOOI

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GENERAL contractor Low Keng Huat has built up a tidy haul for the full year ended Jan 31, 2009, by posting a net profit of $29.35 million, more than doubling its net profit of $13.69 million for the preceding year.

This was helped by a strong fiscal fourth-quarter finish, with net profit standing at $6 million, a 163 per cent increase from the previous correspondng quarter's $2.3 million.

Revenue for fiscal full year also more than doubled to $274.6 million from $113.3 million.

Almost half of the revenue was booked in the last three months of its fiscal year, with the fourth-quarter revenue skyrocketing from $23.97 million for the same period a year ago to $126.5 million, boosted mostly by construction revenue.

The group's construction revenue soared by 287.3 per cent to $220 million for its fiscal year.

'The increase was due to the higher percentage of completion for on-going projects one-north Residences and South Bank and the commencement of new projects Hard Rock Hotel at Sentosa and Meritus Mandarin Hotel,' the group said.

On the group's hotel and food and beverage front, revenue dipped 3.2 per cent from $56.1 million the year before to $54.3 million for the full year ended Jan 31, 2009, because of lower revenue from Duxton Hotel Perth due to the weaker Australian dollar.

The group's gaming centre operations in Duxton Hotel Saigon saw it recording a negative concessionary income of $2.2 million for its fiscal year, due to the centre's lower takings and an additional tax provision of $3.5 million.

The centre's licence had been suspended by the Vietnamese government in November 2008.

'We have submitted our appeal to the authorities to re-instate the licence but its outcome remains unknown as of 31 January 2009,' the group said.

Earnings per share for the group stood at 0.81 cents for the quarter and 3.97 cents for the fiscal year, up from earnings per share of 0.31 cents and 1.85 cents for the same periods a year ago, respectively.

The group said that it will continue to focus on its core business, amidst the poor economic climate.

It has proposed a first and final cash dividend of 1.5 cents per share.

Low Keng Huat's share price rose half a cent, closing at 15.5 cents yesterday.