Keong Hong Holdings moves to SGX mainboard

HOMEGROWN building construction, hotel and property development and investment group, Keong Hong Holdings Limited has transferred its listing from Catalist to the mainboard of the Singapore Exchange (SGX).

Keong Hong's shares will start trading from Tuesday at 9am, the group on Monday said in a filing to the SGX.

Said Ronald Leo, the group's chairman and chief executive: "Our transfer to the SGX mainboard marks a significant corporate milestone for Keong Hong. This timely transfer will allow us to further align our growth strategies and investments, as we seek to expand our core businesses in building construction, hotel and property development and beyond, in Singapore and overseas."

For its financial year ended Sept 30, 2015, the group reported a net profit of S$38.8 million on revenue of S$282 million.

Despite the sluggish economy and less favourable outlook, it said that it is cautiously optimistic about its performance for the current financial year, with its revenue and net profit for the half year ended March 31, 2016, standing at S$125.2 million and S$9.9 million respectively.

As at end March, the group's construction order book stood at about S$358.5 million, which it said provides "a sustainable flow of activities through the end of financial year 2018".

Since its initial public offering (IPO) in December 2011, Keong Hong has grown its market capitalisation by more than 170 per cent and though it does not have a fixed dividend policy, it has consistently paid dividends to reward shareholders, the group said.

It added that it has also expanded its revenue streams to include recurring income from its hotel and property investments and ventured into overseas markets such as Japan, Vietnam and the Maldives.

The group added that it is looking forward to more development and investment opportunities after the transfer and "would like to thank its shareholders, business partners and customers for their support in making this possible".