Oceanus Q4 net profit plunges

ABALONE producer Oceanus Group's net profit plunged for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31 to 792,000 yuan (S$159,770) from 222.1 million yuan a year ago, the group said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Friday.

This came despite revenue dropping just 7 per cent to 7.4 million yuan from the year-ago period. Earnings per share fell to 0.003 RMB cent from 0.91 RMB cent in the year-ago period.

Oceanus did not provide a review of its Q4 performance, but noted a 48 per cent increase in its other operating expenses to 16.6 million yuan for the full year. It also recorded a 280 million yuan decrease in other non-operating income, due to the absence of a 55.8 million yuan compensation amount from the acquisition of its Gulei Farms by the Chinese authorities and gains on redemption of convertible loans.

These were partially offset by improved overall gross profit margins across all business segments and absence of other non-operating expenses related to the disposal of the Gulei Farms, among other things.

For the full year, Oceanus posted a net profit of 4.9 million yuan, down 97 per cent from 189.3 million yuan in the previous year.

Revenue edged up 1.9 per cent to 21.1 million yuan from FY17.

Earnings per share fell to 0.02 RMB cent from 0.78 RMB cent in the previous year.

No dividend was declared for the period under review, the same as with the previous year. Net asset value per share slipped to 0.45 RMB cent as at Dec 31 from 0.46 RMB cent three months ago.

Oceanus Group finished S$0.001 or 25 per cent down at S$0.003 on Friday.

Amendment note: A previous version of this article incorrectly stated Oceanus Group's net profit for the fourth quarter and full year ended Dec 31. The article has been revised to reflect the correct figures.