Weak smartphone market, lack of property contribution drag down UE Q1 net profit

CONGLOMERATE United Engineers (UE) reported a net profit of S$6.9 million for its first quarter ended March 31, 2016, a 72 per cent drop from S$25 million a year ago.

Revenue was down 35 per cent to S$333.6 million from S$515.3 million a year ago.

The lower revenue was mainly due to lower revenue recognition from the Eight Riversuites development, which has sold 98 per cent of the total units, and lower revenue contribution from Multi-Fineline Electronix (MFlex), the Nasdaq-listed printed circuit board maker that is being sold to a Chinese buyer. For MFlex, lower revenue was due to a slow market for smartphones. It made a loss in the first quarter.

"The global economic slowdown and the weaker economic prospects in Singapore coupled with the sustained impact of the property cooling measures will continue to weigh on the sentiment of the property markets in Singapore," UE said.

UE closed two cents down at S$2.15 before the results were out.