Jardine Matheson's H1 profit down 13% to US$709m

JARDINE Matheson Holdings on Friday reported a 13 per cent drop in net profit to US$709 million on the back of a 2 per cent uptick in revenue (including from associates and joint ventures) to US$31.5 billion for the first half of 2015.

Earnings per share were down 14 per cent to US$1.91, compared to US$2.22 a year ago.

Many of the group's businesses were affected by economic conditions in the region that are proving less strong compared to recent years. This has led to an overall decline in underlying profit in its earnings, the conglomerate said.

Jardine's companies include Jardine Pacific, Jardine Motors, Jardine Lloyd Thompson, Hongkong Land, Dairy Farm, Mandarin Oriental, Jardine Cycle & Carriage and Astra International.

That said, the group's companies have made a number of investments in the half-year period to lay the foundations for future growth, it said.

"The more challenging conditions experienced in the first half are expected to continue for the remainder of the year. Nevertheless, the group companies are trading well and taking advantage of the opportunities made available by our strong finances and market-leading positions."

Its counter lost 72 cents to end at US$54.26 on Friday.