SATS Q4 profit falls 23.7% in absence of one-off gains

Singapore

THE fourth-quarter net profit for ground handler and in-flight catering services provider SATS dropped 23.7 per cent to S$49.9 million, from S$65.4 million a year ago, mainly due to the absence of one-off gains, the company announced on Friday, before the market opened.

This translates to an earnings per share (EPS) of 4.5 Singapore cents for the quarter, compared to 5.9 cents last year. SATS shares closed at S$5.08 on Friday, down 2.68 per cent or 14 Singapore cents.

One-off items in the year-ago quarter included a S$2.3 million gain on disposal of assets related to SATS' Japanese unit TFK Corp, as well as an S$11.6 million surplus arising from the finalisation of valuation of the group's associate, Evergreen Sky Catering, a company spokesman told…