Haw Par profit slips 10% to $107.9m

HAW Par Group posted a 10 per cent decline in full-year profit on poorer contributions from associated companies and fair-value losses, the diversified property and investment group said yesterday.

Haw Par's net profit slipped to $107.9 million, or 49.4 cents per share, in 2013 as share of results from associated companies fell 58 per cent to $8 million due to lower profits and a year-earlier exceptional gain recorded by a Hong Kong-listed associate.

Revaluation gains on investment properties were also 54.6 per cent lower in 2013 at $10.7 million, compared to $23.5 million a year earlier. Excluding those items and taxes, operating profit would have grown 14.3 per cent to $96.6 million for the year.

Haw Par, which paid six cents per share in dividends at the mid-year, is recommending a final dividend of 14 cents per share to bring its full-year payout to 20 cents per share.

In 2012, the company paid a final dividend of 13 cents per share and an interim dividend of five cents per share. Haw Par shares closed at $8.52 yesterday, lower by 0.5 per cent or four cents, before the results were announced.

The leisure division was the poorest-performing segment, turning in a 68 per cent drop in profits, to $3.8 million, due to intense competition from newer attractions. That segment will "continue to face keen competition", Haw Par said.

The healthcare division saw profits increase by 51 per cent to $25.9 million as higher sales in key markets and stabilised raw material prices and exchange rates enabled higher profitability, the company said.