Lum Chang's quarterly earnings drop 55%

PROPERTY and construction group Lum Chang Holdings reported on Tuesday a 55 per cent drop in net profit attributable to shareholders of S$5.5 million for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2016, from S$12.0 million the year before.

Its gross profit was down 32 per cent year-on-year to S$13.9 million for the Dec 2016 quarter. Lum Chang said this was due mainly to the quarter reporting a "higher mix of construction revenue, which generally contributes to a lower margin compared to property sales".

Its revenue was down 3 per cent to S$97.0 million, from S$100.1 million, due mainly to lower revenues from two of its Malaysian properties and completed construction projects.

Its earnings per share amounted to 1.43 cents, from 3.13 cents in the Dec 2015 quarter.

Lum Chang shares finished 1 cent down at S$0.35 on Tuesday.