CSE Global's H1 earnings rise 47.7% on contributions from newly-acquired units

Singapore

CSE Global, a tech-solutions provider to the oil and gas and mining industries, saw its earnings for the half year ended June 30 rise 47.7 per cent to S$15.1 million, on the back of contributions from its newly-acquired units in the US and Australia.

The mainboard-listed firm has also declared an interim dividend of 1.25 cents per share, unchanged from last year. This will be paid out on Sept 15.

For H1, CSE Global's revenue rose 39.1 per cent to S$255.6 million, fuelled by higher contributions from the Americas and Asia-Pacific markets.

Income from the Americas rose by 51.7 per cent to S$172.2 million, due to higher time, material and greenfield project revenues recognised, as well as contributions from its newly-acquired subsidiaries, Volta and Volta Properties.

Meanwhile, revenue from the Asia-Pacific grew 21.6 per cent to S$81.4 million on the back of higher recognition of revenues from the infrastructure and mining projects in Australia, which includes contribution from a newly-acquired unit, RCS Telecommunications.

The strong bottomline was a result of contributions from the Volta units and RCS, as well as robust core operations, CSE said.

This was partly dampened by higher staff costs from the acquisitions, unabsorbed labour costs from lower labour utilisation, increased amortisation and depreciation expenses, as well as higher provisions from expected credit losses on trade receivables.

CSE's order book also grew, with H1 new orders rising 25.7 per cent to S$242.1 million.

New orders came mainly from the Americas and Asia-Pacific across all segments.

The firm's outstanding order book grew 56.6 per cent to stand at S$293.8 million as of end-June.

CSE remains in a net-debt position, although it had lowered its net debt to S$21.1 million as at end June, compared to S$44.5 million as at end December 2019.

Lim Boon Kheng, the company's group managing director, said that the company has delivered a commendable performance amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

"We are aware of the uncertainties ahead posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, low oil and gas prices and weak global economic outlook.

"Despite these uncertainties in the coming months, the group remains confident of achieving a financial performance for FY2020 similar to that recorded in FY2019," he said.

Shares of CSE closed flat at S$0.53 on Wednesday.