Hiap Hoe Q3 net profit falls 82%

LOWER sales of development properties and higher expenses resulted in an 82 per cent dive in net profit for Hiap Hoe in the third quarter ended Sept 30, the property developer announced on Friday.

Net profit was S$114,000 compared with S$633,000 a year ago, although Q3 revenue shrank 16.3 per cent to S$35.3 million from S$42.1 million.

Among other expense increases, finance costs increased by 28.9 per cent due to borrowings for property acquisitions in Perth. Employee benefits expense rose by 20.3 per cent year-on-year and depreciation expense increased by 16.3 per cent, both of which were related to the acquisition of Aloft Perth hotel in March.

Earnings per share was 0.02 Singapore cent, compared with 0.13 cent in Q3 of the previous year.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, net profit rose 74.5 per cent to S$5.9 million, up from S$3.4 million a year ago. This was partly attributed to a S$4 million increase in other income, mainly due to higher gain on disposal of investments and higher property recoveries.

Revenue fell 37.9 per cent to S$96.6 million from S$155.6 million, attributed to lower sales of development properties. Earnings per share improved to 1.25 Singapore cent from 0.72 cent a year ago.

No dividend was declared for the period under review.

Hiap Hoe shares closed unchanged at S$0.78 on Friday before results were announced.