Tiong Woon's Q1 hit by soft demand; Maxi-Cash's Q3 up on higher interest income

Singapore

IT WAS a tale of two fortunes for Tiong Woon Corporation and Maxi-Cash, both of which reported their quarterly earnings on Wednesday.

Engineering and marine transportation firm Tiong Woon Corporation said net profit for its first fiscal quarter fell 24 per cent, dragged by lower sales. It noted that demand for heavy lift and haulage from the oil and gas, and petrochemical industries in Singapore and the region has softened.

"Apart from pursuing business opportunities to ride on the flow of contracts, the group will continually forge strategic alliances and collaborations with international contractors and industry players to jointly participate in the bidding for projects," it said in its financial statement.

Net profit for the three months ended Sept 30, 2014, stood at S$3.47 million, compared to S$4.58 million a year ago. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at 0.75 Singapore cent, compared to 0.99 Singapore cent a year ago.

Sales fell 17 per cent to S$36.8 million, hit by weaker revenue across all its business divisions.

Turnover from its heavy lift and haulage segment, its biggest division, fell 10 per cent to S$32.8 million, mainly due to fewer heavy lift and installation projects that it worked on in the Asia-Pacific.

Pawnbroker Maxi-Cash, on the other hand, said net profit for the third quarter more than doubled on higher interest income, and firmer margins. Singapore's largest pawnbroking chain also recorded its fattest pledge book ever in the latest quarter.

Net profit for the three months ended Sept 30, 2014, stood at S$703,000, a surge from S$328,000 a year ago. This translated to an EPS of 0.13 Singapore cent, compared to 0.06 Singapore cent a year ago.

Besides recording higher interest income, Maxi-Cash posted stronger gross margins from the sale and trading of jewellery, as well as from the sale of unredeemed and not-auctioned pledges.The stronger performance came despite a 2 per cent dip in revenue to S$27.9 million.

Shares of Tiong Woon were last traded at S$0.295. Shares of Maxi-Cash lost half a Singapore cent to end at S$0.26 on Wednesday.