Hiap Tong full-year profit almost doubles to S$2.25m

HIAP Tong Corporation saw profit attributable to shareholders almost double to S$2.25 million for the year ended March 31, 2019, from S$1.18 million the year before, the Catalist-listed crane supplier announced on Thursday night.

Revenue rose 25.4 per cent to S$54.2 million, up from S$43.3 million the year before. Gross margin improved to 20 per cent, from 17.7 per cent the year before.

Profit before income tax was S$1.57 million, up 2.4 per cent from S$1.54 million the year before. However, Hiap Tong enjoyed a tax credit of S$654,000 in FY 2019 due to use of deferred tax liabilities, in contrast to FY 2018 when there was an income tax expense of S$391,000.

Earnings per share were 0.73 Singapore cent, compared with 0.38 Singapore cent the year before. Hiap Tong has recommended a first and final dividend of 0.05 Singapore cent per ordinary share.

Hiap Tong expects its port services segment to continue contributing positively, and its leasing business "to have slight improvement in the Singapore market".

Regarding plans to expand its leasing business in Malaysia, it noted that "delays and uncertainty on infrastructural investment projects" have affected near-term business performance there. "However, we remain cautiously optimistic about the longer-term prospects of this market," it added.

Hiap Tong shares closed unchanged at 6.4 Singapore cents on Thursday before the news.