ST Engineering reports 6% slide in Q2 profit

ST Engineering on Friday reported a 6.1 per cent drop year on year in net profit to about S$125 million for the second quarter ended June 30, dragged down partly by lower finance income.

Revenue was 2.6 per cent lower at S$1.55 billion as its marine sector posted lower revenues, while earnings per share clocked 4.01 Singapore cents, down from 4.28 cents a year ago. Revenue from its marine sector fell 27 per cent to S$254 million due to lower shipbuilding revenue from both local and US operations as well as lower engineering revenue.

During the quarter, finance income fell by about half to S$8.25 million.

For the half year, net profit was 5.7 per cent lower at S$254.96 million, while revenue edged 2.6 per cent lower at S$3.06 billion.

The board has approved an interim dividend of five cents per share, payable on Sept 3.

"Barring unforeseen circumstances, the group expect FY15 revenue and profit before tax to be comparable to FY14," said Lee Fook Sun, deputy chief executive officer of ST Engineering.

Its order book stood at S$12.4 billion at end June, compared with S$12.2 billion as at end March. The group expects to deliver S$2.3 billion worth of orders in the coming months this year.