Boustead Singapore Q3 profit falls on lower revenue, spin-off of property arm

ENGINEERING firm Boustead Singapore on Friday posted a 36 per cent fall in net profit for its fiscal third quarter on lower revenue. The fall also reflected the spin-off of Boustead Projects, the company's real estate arm.

Net profit for the three months ended Dec 31, 2015 stood at S$7.51 million, compared to S$11.8 million the same period a year ago. Quarterly revenue fell 20 per cent to S$142 million, with hits in sales from its energy-related engineering services, real estate, and its geo-spatial technology division.

Resulting from the spin-off of Boustead Projects, approximately 49 per cent of Boustead Projects' shares were distributed as a dividend. This also meant the non-controlling interest portion of total profit has jumped several times - these gains are not captured under net profit attributable to equity holders.

Boustead Projects has been separately listed on the Singapore Exchange.

If net profit for the year-ago quarter had been adjusted to account for the spin-off and other related gains and losses, then net profit for the latest third quarter would be 16 per cent lower year on year, Boustead said.