UnUsUaL posts 15.5% rise in Q3 net profit of S$3.52m

CATALIST-LISTED UnUsUaL Ltd, the concert promotion and event production spin-off of mm2 Asia, saw third-quarter earnings improve on higher revenue from the promotion business, according to unaudited results on Thursday.

Net profit grew 15.5 per cent for the three months to Dec 31, 2019 to S$3.52 million, as revenue surged 66.4 per cent from S$15.9 million to S$26.5 million.

Still, some of the topline gains were eroded by a spike in cost of sales, as well as finance expenses and higher staff costs. There were also other losses of S$231,200 against gains of S$83,400 in the year before - largely from foreign exchange.

Earnings per share stood at 0.34 Singapore cent, up from 0.3 cent before, while net asset value rose to 6.07 Singapore cents against 5.14 cents as at March 31, 2019.

For the nine months, net profit rose by 11.1 per cent to S$9.62 million on the back of a 48.3 per cent jump in revenue to S$60.4 million.

Still, Leslie Ong, UnUsUaL's chief executive, warned that the ongoing Covid-19 respiratory virus outbreak "will have an impact on our current quarter and full year's performance" as concerts and events are postponed.

"We have been taking steps to diversify into new markets to better manage and reduce the impact of such threats to the group's performance," he added, referring to a move into family entertainment shows, and business plans to secure more projects in the West.

No dividend was recommended for the period, unchanged from the year before, which the board said is because "the group is still growing its businesses".

UnUsUaL shares closed at S$0.21 on Thursday, up half a Singapore cent or 2.44 per cent, before the results were announced.