CENTURION Corporation, the specialised accommodation assets player, on Thursday (Aug 11) posted earnings of S$32.9 million for the first half ended June, jumping 277 per cent from S$8.7 million in the year-ago period.

Earnings from its core business operations – excluding fair valuation gains and deferred tax relating to fair valuation – stood at S$29 million in H1, up 42 per cent from S$20.4 million in the previous year.

H1 group revenue rose 40 per cent to S$90.5 million, on the back of stronger contributions from the group’s portfolio of purpose-built workers accommodation (PBWA) and purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) across Singapore, Australia and the UK.

Revenue from the group’s Westlite Accommodation PBWA segment increased 38 per cent to S$67.0 million.

This was largely attributed to contributions from 2 Quick Build Dormitories as well as management fees and accommodation-related revenue derived mainly from 2 Onboard Centres.

The Quick Build Dormitories commenced operations progressively from June 2021, while the Onboard Centres started operations from March 2021.

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Revenue was also lifted by a recovery in financial occupancy of the group’s 5 Purpose-Built Dormitories in Singapore, which rose 14 percentage points to 96 per cent in H1.

The improvement was in tandem with the reopening of the Singapore economy and resumption of arrivals of dormitory-bound work pass holders, the group said in a bourse filing.

Meanwhile, revenue from Centurion’s dwell Student Living PBSA segment grew 43 per cent year-on-year to S$22.5 million.

This was due to the lifting of travel restrictions and a return of international students to the UK and Australia, which boosted bookings and financial occupancies across the group’s PBSA assets in these markets.

“Centurion has delivered a sterling set of results which reflects the resilience and sustainability of our core business and is firmly on track to benefit from the return of foreign workers and international students to the group’s strategically located assets across the globe,” said Centurion CEO Kong Chee Min.

The board has declared an interim dividend of S$0.005 per share, payable on Sep 29.

Shares of Centurion closed flat at S$0.38 on Thursday, before the results announcement.