Low-margin project drags Boustead Q3 net down 36%

Singapore

THE completion of a large property project with a very low margin meant that technology and engineering group Boustead Singapore reported a 36 per cent fall in net profit to S$11.8 million from S$18.4 million a year ago, for its third quarter ended Dec 31, 2014. Revenue went up 37 per cent to S$177.9 million from S$129.7 million a year ago. Cost of sales, however, was up 66 per cent at S$135.9 million.

"It was our largest design-and-build project, an industrial facility. There was a lot of competition when we secured it ... at a lower margin," Keith Chu, vice-president of corporate marketing and investor relations, told The Business Times.