Sim Lian's full-year profit falls 71%

CONSTRUCTION and property development firm Sim Lian Group recorded a 71 per cent drop in net profit from a year ago to S$68.8 million for the full year ended June 30, 2016, it announced in a Singapore Exchange filing on Thursday.

Revenue for the fiscal year was down 52 per cent to S$570.9 million compared with FY2015.

The contribution of Sim Lian's property development division to the group's FY2016 revenue was 91 per cent lower at S$86.6 million, due to reduced contribution from its development property which was completed in February 2015.

Its construction division contributed S$430.0 million to revenue for the fiscal year, an 88 per cent jump from S$229.0 million in 2015, on the back of an increase in percentage of work done in FY2016 compared with the previous year.

Contract costs incurred fell 52 per cent to S$434.0 million, in tandem with the decrease in revenue.

Sim Lian also recorded foreign exchange loss of S$8.2 million for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2016, due to the revaluation of inter-company balances which are not denominated in the functional currency of the respective subsidiaries, the company said.

The group expects the operating environment for the property market to continue to be challenging for the upcoming year, with property cooling and loan restriction measures still in effect and expected global slow growth.

The company has proposed a first and final dividend of 1.5 Singapore cents, down from the 7.28 Singapore cents declared in the previous year.

The counter last traded at S$1.065 on Thursday.