Rotary Engineering net profit in Q1 surges to S$3.7m as gross profit margin improves

IMPROVEMENT in gross profit margin lifted Rotary Engineering's net profit in its first quarter to S$3.7 million from S$0.52 million in the year-ago period.

For the three months ended March 31, revenue fell 8 per cent to S$59.6 million from the previous year, as the group reaches completion on its major projects, it said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Tuesday evening.

Gross profit margin improved to 25 per cent in Q1 2017 from 18 per cent in the same period a year ago, contributed by cumulative productivity gains from major project closures and contingency provision written back.

Earnings per share leapt to 0.7 Singapore cent in the first quarter of 2017 from 0.1 Singapore cent in the previous year. Net asset value per share crept up to 28.8 Singapore cents as at March 31, from 28.3 Singapore cents three months ago.

Rotary Engineering shares closed S$0.005 or 1.33 per cent up at S$0.38 on Tuesday.

Roger Chia Kim Piow, chairman and managing director of Rotary, said: "Automation and prefabrication are some of the ways in which we have increased our operational efficiency. This is in line with the national effort to increase productivity in the construction industry."