Dear all, article in BT about Boustead's record profit. Have a good read !
Business Times - 29 May 2008Boustead posts record profit Net earnings rise 46% to $51.5m, 6th annual jump in a row By VEN SREENIVASAN
ENGINEERING and infrastructure group Boustead Singapore has reported a sixth straight year of record profit as all its business units continued to fire.
Net profit rose 46 per cent to a
record $51.5 million for the year ended March 31, 2008 - surpassing analysts' expectations - as
revenue rose 28 per cent to $438.3 million. Earnings per share rose to 20.1 cents from 13.9 cents.
The strong performance has prompted the company to declare a special dividend of two cents a share on top of a final dividend of five cents. It has already paid an interim dividend of three cents a share.
The results were achieved on record performances by three of Boustead's four operating divisions.
Its
energy-related business division generated a
5 per cent rise in revenue to $137.2 million. The
real estate solutions business jumped 55 per cent to $193.3 million. And the
geo-spatial business grew 9 per cent to $67.8 million. Even
loss-making water and waste-water unit Salcon boosted revenue by 51 per cent to $35.9 million.
The
group's order book came to $500 million as at March 31, when
Boustead had a $151 million net cash position.Its real estate solutions division was the star performer for FY2008, contributing revenue of $193.3 million.
Stripping out the sale of two industrial leasehold properties, comparative revenue from core design and build activities grew 59 per cent to $57.3 million.
Boustead said that the division would continue to capitalise on the strong fundamental support for industrial real estate in Singapore, while also
expanding in China and Vietnam.In Libya, the real estate solutions division had negligible revenue recognition from a new township at Al Marj for FY2008. But the project is on schedule and is expected to contribute significantly to revenue and net profit for FY2009.
Geo-spatial technology revenue grew at a steady pace, but the company expects the revenue mix of this business to change, with the emphasis shifting towards professional services, thereby reducing reliance on exclusive distribution services. Boustead said that this would improve gross margins.
Group chairman and CEO Wong Fong Fui expressed delight at the sixth straight record year. 'Over the six-year period, we attained a very respectable compounded annual growth rate of approximately 35 per cent.
'However, we are not resting on our laurels. Our very capable leaders and teams worldwide are already working towards a seventh consecutive year of record-breaking achievements.'
He said that although three of Boustead's four divisions are performing well, 'we are still greatly disappointed that we have not managed to turn around the water and waste-water engineering division'. 'We have spent a great deal of energy focusing on this division and will continue to do so until it achieves profitability. We believe our efforts will be rewarded in the not-too-distant future,' he added.
Shares of Boustead - which turns 180 this year, making it Singapore's second-oldest company after Guthrie - closed nine cents higher at $2.30 yesterday.