Straco posts lower Q4 and full-year profits

MAINBOARD-LISTED Straco Corporation, developer and operator of tourism-related attractions, on Tuesday reported a fourth quarter net profit of S$6.14 million, 1.9 per cent lower than the year-ago period, weighed down by Underwater World Xiamen and Singapore subsidiary, Straco Leisure, operator of the Singapore Flyer.

Revenue for the three months at end Dec 2016 went down 2.5 per cent year on year to S$23.2 million, mainly due to the lower revenue from Underwater World Xiamen, even as higher revenue was achieved by Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, Lixing Cable Car and Straco Leisure.

Not helping was the overall visitation to all attractions in the quarter, which fell 2.6 per cent to 0.915 million visitors.

For the full year, net profit slid 5.2 per cent to S$46.5 million, while revenue was 2 per cent lower at S$125.2 million.

Straco's executive chairman, Wu Hsioh Kwang, said that the group generated net cash from operating activities of S$67.1 million for the year, 3.2 per cent higher than that of last year. As at end December 2016, the group has net cash of S$101.3 million, he said.