Hyflux marks 91% slump for FY16 profit

HYFLUX Ltd reported a 91 per cent slump in net profit to S$4.76 million for the full year ended Dec 31, 2016 as losses from the Tuaspring power plant wiped out profits from the higher engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) activities.

Excluding losses from the Tuaspring plant, net profit last year would have been S$118 million, it said. Fourth-quarter results were not provided.

The group's revenue hit a record S$987 million in 2016, more than double the S$445.2 million in 2015, thanks mainly to the TuasOne Waste-to-Energy (WTE) project and Qurayyat Independent Water Project (IWP).

Municipal projects continued to be the main contributor, accounting for about 92 per cent or S$912.4 million of the group's revenue, while Singapore and the Middle East North Africa continued to be the group's key markets, accounting for 68 per cent and 26 per cent of total revenue respectively.

Guided for another challenging year, Hyflux said that construction of the Qurayyat IWP in Oman, TuasOne WTE project in Singapore and Khurais desalination project in Saudi Arabia will continue to contribute to the group's revenue and profits, but profits from these projects are expected to be offset by losses arising from the weak Singapore power market.

The group will be seeking partial divestment of the Tuaspring plant subject to the relevant regulatory approvals.

The Board of directors has proposed a final dividend of 0.25 Singapore cent per ordinary share, bringing the total dividends for the year to 0.45 cent per share. The total dividend paid out in 2015 was 1.70 cents per share.

Shares of Hyflux closed up one cent at 63 cents on Thursday.

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