Straco Corporation's Q3 earnings down on lower revenue

MAINBOARD-LISTED Straco Corporation recorded a 6 per cent fall in earnings on the back of lower revenue for the third quarter.

The developer and operator of tourism-related attractions said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Tuesday that net profit stood at S$21.4 million for the three months ended Sept 30.

Earnings per share was 2.48 Singapore cents, down from 2.65 Singapore cents the year before.

Straco reported a 3.2 per cent decline in group revenue to S$46.11 million for Q3 2017 from Q3 2016, mainly attributable to lower revenue contributed by Underwater World Xiamen (UWX), partially offset by higher revenue achieved by Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, Lixing Cable Car, and Singapore Flyer.

In Q3 2017, overall visitor numbers to all the attractions decreased 5.1 per cent from Q3 2016 to 1.91 million visitors.

Straco's executive chairman, Wu Hsioh Kwang, said: "We are satisfied with the overall performance for the year to date as our attractions, other than UWX, registered positive growth."

Mr Wu added that UWX's performance had been impacted by falling visitor numbers, which dropped more than 30 per cent in the third quarter due to the further restriction on visitor numbers to Gulangyu by the local authorities, as well as tight traffic control in Xiamen city in view of the 2017 Brics Summit held in September.

Straco closed at S$0.87 on Tuesday, down 0.5 Singapore cent, or 0.6 per cent.