Hyflux slides into the red with S$26.1m Q3 loss; revenue plunges to S$98m

THE WEAK Singapore power market and the Tuaspring Integrated Water and Power Plant, which is classified as held for sale, eroded results for Hyflux Ltd (Hyflux) in its third quarter.

These factors sent Hyflux into the red, recording a net loss of S$26.1 million, from a net profit of S$10.3 million in the previous year, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Thursday evening.

The drop in earnings was primarily due to the Tuaspring plant, which contributed losses of S$26.6 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017.

For the three months ended Sept 30, revenue plummeted 60.6 per cent to S$98 million from the year-ago period.

"The contraction in revenue came on the back of lower engineering, construction and procurement contributions from the TuasOne Waste-to-Energy project in Singapore and Qurayyat Independent Water Project in Oman, which were in line with its planned construction schedules," Hyflux said.

Municipal projects continue to represent a majority (84 per cent) of Hyflux's revenue at S$82.2 million.

Loss per share increased to 5.04 Singapore cents from 1.05 Singapore cents in the year-ago period.

Net asset value per share sank to 26.2 Singapore cents as at Sept 30, from 45.1 Singapore cents nine months ago.

As at Sept 30, Hyflux's net gearing was at 1.07 times, with a cash position of S$222 million.

Hyflux "is in the process of divesting its full interest in the Tianjin Dagang desalination plant in China, as well as the partial divestment in its Tuaspring plant", the group said. "This is in line with the group's asset light strategy, and progress updates will be announced when available."

Looking ahead, Hyflux expects losses for the rest of 2017 due to the challenging conditions in the Singapore power market which have already been impacting the group's results.

Hyflux shares closed unchanged at S$0.49 on Thursday.