Oxley reports higher profit for H1 2021

DEVELOPER Oxley Holdings' net profit for the six months ended Dec 31, 2020 more than doubled year-on-year to S$34.12 million from S$15.72 million on the back of higher revenue and lower finance costs.

Revenue rose 25 per cent year-on-year to S$745.35 million, lifted by contributions from a wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia that was consolidated into the group's results from October 2019.

Stripping out revenue from the subsidiary, group revenue for H1FY21 would have been 9 per cent higher, largely due to development projects in Cambodia, Singapore and the United Kingdom. This was partly offset by lower revenue from a project in Ireland and the group's hotels in Singapore.

Earnings per share for the period under review increased to 0.81 Singapore cent from 0.37 Singapore cent previously.

During the six-month period, other income rose to S$3.83 million from S$727,000 a year ago largely due to government grants.

Finance costs also eased by 30 per cent to S$56.39 million owing to the repayment of retail bonds and bank borrowings as well as a drop in interest rates.

Meanwhile, share of results from associates and joint ventures slid 82 per cent to S$2.2 million, arising from the absence of share of profit from an associated company in the United Kingdom, which was divested in the second half of FY20.

In an update, Oxley highlighted that it had a total unbilled contract value of about S$3.1 billion (as at Jan 31, 2021), of which about S$2.6 billion were from projects in Singapore.

As at end January 2021, the group had secured total sales for its development portfolio worth almost S$9.1 billion, of which S$3.73 billion was from projects in Singapore.

The developer also said that its development projects are expected to fall behind their target completion dates because of the "circuit breaker" in Singapore last year as well as the ongoing lockdowns in other countries in which it operates. "(Oxley) is looking to resume operations at full speed in these countries when the situation stabilises," it added.

Since March 2020, its hotels on Stevens Road in Singapore have functioned as government quarantine and stay-home notice (SHN) dedicated facilities, generating positive cash flows from operations.

Net gearing decreased to 2.31 times, compared to 2.48 times as at June 30, 2020.

No dividend was declared for the six-month period, compared to a dividend of 0.32 Singapore cent per share in the corresponding period a year ago.

Shares in Oxley closed at 23 Singapore cents on Thursday, unchanged.