CIVIL engineering and construction firm Hock Lian Seng posted a net profit of S$10.4 million for the nine months ended Sept 30, up 55.7 per cent from the same period a year ago, on the back of higher revenue from the civil engineering segment.

Revenue went up 77 per cent to S$151.7 million, contributed mainly from the much higher construction activities for the joint venture Changi Airport project as well as recognised revenue for property development in relation to the sales of units at Shine@TuasSouth.

Earnings per share for the nine months stood at 2.04 Singapore cents, up from 1.32 cents previously.

No dividend was declared for the period.

As at Sept 30, the group's order book for ongoing projects of the civil engineering segment was approximately S$675 million for the Maxwell station, the two Changi Airport projects and Stabling at Gali Batu Depot.

The group's industrial development project, Shine@TuasSouth, has obtained temporary occupation permit on Aug 1. With the Tuas Mega port slated to open progressively from 2021, Hock Lian Seng said that it will continue to monitor the market conditions, as well as to increase marketing efforts to sell or lease the unsold units.

As for its Mattar Road residential joint venture project, it is in the phase of design finalisation, with the sale launch expected to be in 3Q2019.

In its outlook, Hock Lian Seng said: "The management will continue to tender for infrastructure projects competitively and explore other business opportunities in property-related segment to enhance shareholders' value."