Sinjia Land narrows full-year loss to S$3.5m

SINJIA Land managed to narrow its full-year net loss to S$3.5 million from S$7.7 million a year ago, on the back of higher revenue, and the absence of losses from discontinued operations.

In a regulatory filing on Monday night, Sinjia Land noted that "discontinued operations" refer to its investment in HLN Rubber Products Pte Ltd and its subsidiaries, as the company completed the disposal on Dec 15, 2017. It added that its "continuing operations" relate to the company's remaining businesses in hostel management, and investments in fund management.

For the 12 months ended Dec 31, loss per share (LPS) came in at two Singapore cents, from a LPS of 4.59 Singapore cents a year ago. Its loss in the previous year comprised of a LPS of 2.42 Singapore cents from continuing operations, and a LPS of 2.17 Singapore cents from discontinued operations.

No dividend has been declared for the current financial period, unchanged from the preceding year.

Meanwhile, revenue rose 11 per cent to S$526,000 for FY2018 from S$474,000 the previous year, mainly attributable to a growth in visitor arrivals, Sinjia Land said.

"Despite the increase in revenue, the group reported a gross loss of S$21,000 in FY2018, whereas a gross profit of S$77,000 was reported in FY2017. This was mainly due to the increase in labour cost as the Ministry of Manpower of Singapore increased the qualifying salary criteria for work pass holders to qualify for dependant privileges from Jan 1, 2018," the company added.

Looking ahead, the firm's directors noted that they remain cautious in fiscal 2019 due to market challenges, and will continue to stay lean and maintain positive cash flow in order to stay competitive in the challenging business environment.

As at Dec 31, the group has a cash at bank of S$3.82 million, it said.

It added that it is generally optimistic about tourism prospects for 2019, and will focus resources on its property-related businesses.

Shares in Sinjia Land closed flat at 0.8 Singapore cent apiece on Feb 13.