Koh Brothers Group net profit up 13% to S$1.2m; order book hits record

Koh Brothers Group net profit up 13% to S$1.2m; order book hits record

Wed, May 16, 2018

Yunita Ong


KOH Brothers Group is tendering for large-scale infrastructure projects here such as the North-South Corridor and the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore High Speed Rail.

Managing director and group chief executive officer Francis Koh told The Business Times this on the day it released its Q1 2018 results.

The engineering and construction group's order book hit a record S$915.9 million, helped by projects won in the last eight months: the Woodlands Health Campus (S$192 million), Deep Tunnel Sewerage System Phase 2 (S$182 million) and Circle Line 6 (S$225.4 million).

It is also "actively participating in tendering for Government Land Sales (GLS) and collective sales" after recently bagging en bloc sites Toho Mansion - which it plans to launch next year - as well as The Estoril and Hollandia.

He hopes to add "one or two" other sites to its landbank and especially likes sites near MRT stations.

In its first quarter, Koh Brothers' net profit grew 13 per cent to S$1.2 million.

Earnings per share increased to 0.29 Singapore cents from 0.26 Singapore cents in the year-ago period.

This was despite the fact that revenue fell 24.4 per cent to S$67.1 million from the year-ago period due to lower percentage of revenue recognition from the construction division.

But it saw its share of result from joint ventures (JVs) increase 77 per cent to S$2.51 million thanks to higher profit contribution from the cycling-themed Westwood Residences Executive Condominium (EC).

Higher interest income received from short-term investments helped bring up other income to S$1.89 million in Q1 2018 from S$0.71 million in Q1 2017.

Other expenses also decreased 90 per cent to S$210,000 in Q1 2018 from S$2.16 million in Q1 2017 mainly due to lower allowance for impairment of loans to JVs provided by the group.

"The expected increase in demand and pipeline of major civil engineering contracts bode well for us as we continue to tender by leveraging on our proven track record, experience and broad suite of capabilities," Mr Koh said.

Sustainable engineering solutions provider Koh Brothers Eco Engineering, of which Koh Brothers Group is the largest shareholder, saw net profit fall to 74 per cent to S$363,000 from the preceding year.

Earnings per share was at 0.03 Singapore cents, down from 0.16 Singapore cents.

Koh Brothers Group shares finished unchanged at S$0.31 on Tuesday.

Koh Brothers Eco Engineering's shares finished 0.1 Singapore cent higher at S$0.078.