Stamford Land

Mainboard-listed Stamford Land's net profit surged to S$16.3 million for the half-year ended September, up from S$1.5 million a year ago, driven by recovery in its hotel business.

The company's H1 revenue more than doubled to S$83 million, of which S$67.6 million came from hotel owning and management, more than triple the year-ago figure. This is due to the low base from H1 2020, when all of Stamford Land's Australia hotels in Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane and Sydney (with the exception of Stamford Plaza Sydney Airport) were temporarily closed.

However, Stamford Land's property development unit posted a weaker showing, with revenue halved to S$3.2 million. Operating profit likewise halved to S$478,000, due to fewer units in Macquarie Park Village in Sydney settled during the period. Nineteen units remain unsold, but are being leased out.

Revenue in the property investment division dipped 3 per cent to S$12 million, while operating profit held steady at S$9.9 million. Looking ahead, Stamford Land expects the commercial tenancy situation for the London property to remain unaffected by Covid-19.

But the company is still cautious about the outlook for hospitality. "Despite the ongoing vaccination, it is uncertain when normalcy will return," it said in its earnings statement.

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Shares of Stamford Land closed at S$0.50 on Friday, up 2 per cent.

Raffles Education

Mainboard-listed Raffles Education posted a net loss of S$9.6 million for its first quarter ended Sep 30, widened from S$1.6 million a year ago. 

This was despite a 10 per cent rise in revenue to S$23.3 million, from S$21.1 million a year earlier on significantly higher student enrolments in China, offset by lower revenue from the leasing of educational facilities of Oriental University City Holdings.

Raffles Education noted that the pandemic has impacted its recruitment and retention of foreign students, and said it will continue to streamline and restructure its operations to better manage costs and improve efficiency.

Chip Eng Seng The property company is likely to incur a net loss for FY2021 ending December, but the loss will be narrower than the S$81.1 million incurred in FY2020, it announced in a Friday bourse filing. 

While Chip Eng Seng was in the black for H1 this year, it has suffered construction labour shortage, supply-chain disruptions for construction materials, border-control measures and steeper operating costs.

On the property development front, two projects, Kopar at Newton and Parc Komo, have been hit by construction delays, leading to lower-than-expected revenue recognition. Both are now expected to be completed in 2023. 

Sales at Parc Komo stood at 80.1 per cent as at Nov 8, from 67 per cent on Aug 3. Sales at Kopar at Newton are at 58.2 per cent, up from 51.9 per cent over the same period. 

Chip Eng Seng said it will continue to exercise caution in acquiring land plots and projects for its property development business.

Meanwhile, its construction business is performing significantly better in than in FY2020, when the industry had to put work on hold because of the pandemic measures. However, due to labour and raw material challenges, handover dates for some  projects have been extended.

On the hospitality side, Chip Eng Seng’s hotels in Australia and the Maldives have posted marginal recovery in occupancy rates and revenue. But there has not been significant recovery for its Singapore hotel, Park Hotel Alexandra, which operates as an isolation facility. Hospitality revenue is set to increase, but there may be impairment in the value of the hotel properties.

Chip Eng Seng has deferred construction works for its new hotel projects in Adelaide in South Australia, and in the Maldives to the first half of 2022. These hotels are targeted to operate when travel and tourism return to normal. 

“The group will continue to monitor its operations and the Covid-19 situation in order to adjust its measures and strategies accordingly,” it said. 

Shares of Chip Eng Seng closed at S$0.43 on Friday, up 1.2 per cent.