More profit warnings for fiscal 2015

ANOTHER bout of six Singapore-listed companies warned on Tuesday that they will report a net loss for the fiscal year ended Dec 31, 2015.

Among them was Hong Leong Asia, which said the loss attributable to owners of the company is due mainly to the continuing losses incurred by Xinfei, whose revenue for the year slumped 14.7 per cent due to the weak home appliance market in China amid a slowdown in the Chinese economy and over-capacity in the industry, which led to competitors slashing prices.

Semiconductor equipment manufacturer Advanced Systems Automation Limited said that its expected full-year net loss mainly stemmed from impairment losses on certain assets of the group and lower revenue generated in FY2015 as compared to the previous financial year ended Dec 31, 2014.

Another electronics player that guided for a full-year net loss on Tuesday was Dragon Group International, citing impairment losses on certain assets of the group, ongoing costs arising from corporate activities relating to the exploration of new business opportunities, and research and development costs for batteries development.

Dragon Group's parent company, ASTI Holdings, blamed the expected net loss for fiscal 2015 on impairment losses on certain assets of its entities and lower revenue generated in FY2015 compared to the last financial year. The net loss was also due to on-going losses in certain subsidiaries and the continuing research and development costs incurred for development of semiconductor packaging technologies.

As for Kencana Agri Limited, it said that an expected net loss for the fiscal year mainly arose from foreign exchange losses from the depreciation of the Indonesian rupiah against the US dollar and lower average selling prices of crude palm oil.

Blumont Group Ltd, which guided for a net loss for fiscal 2015 and fourth quarter ended Dec 31, said that these expected losses primarily stemmed from the fair value re-adjustments of the group's investments in transferable securities (financial assets), "attributable to the recent volatility in the financial markets and global economy".