KSH's Q1 net profit flat at S$10.2m

Contractor-cum-developer KSH Holdings remains "cautiously optimistic on the outlook of its performance" for fiscal year ending March 31, 2017 after reporting flat profits for the first quarter.

Its net profit of S$10.21 million for the three months ended June 30 was marginally higher than the S$10.18 million a year ago.

Revenue dipped 0.6 per cent to S$61.48 million. The decrease was mainly due to a drop in revenue from construction business of S$200,000 and decrease in revenue from rental income from investment properties.

KSH has an order book of S$168.2 million on construction projects here and has entered into a term contract with the National University of Singapore for addition and alteration works for a period of 24 months with effect from May 2016 with an option, exercisable by NUS, to extend for a further 12 months from May 2018 to May 2019.

As at June 30, there are 14 projects launched by KSH's associates and joint ventures. Some 92.9 per cent of the launched units have been sold.

The group has a balance share of progress billings of S$239.7 million from these projects to be recognised as sales revenue; the profits to be recognised by its associates and joint ventures will contribute to group's results after the fiscal first quarter.

KSH noted that the cost of construction and other operating costs are likely to continue to rise but this uptrend is likely to be capped by stable prices of some key construction materials.

The group said that it would continue to raise productivity through technology adoption and innovative measures, training of workers and higher usage of equipment and tools with the assistance of government grants.