Yoma Q2 profit drops 97% on lack of recognised property sales

YOMA Strategic Holdings' net profit tumbled 97.2 per cent in the second fiscal quarter as it posted lower recognised sales of property in its Myanmar projects.

Yoma, a Myanmar conglomerate with property development and car businesses, said net earnings fell to S$298,000, or 0.02 Singapore cent per share, for the three months ended September. For the fiscal first half, net profit dropped 76.1 per cent to S$2.9 million, or 0.17 Singapore cent per share.

Yoma's shares eased 2.9 per cent, or 1.5 Singapore cent, to close at 49.5 Singapore cents on Thursday before the results were announced.

Revenue halved to S$19.9 million during the quarter as the sale of residences and land development rights fell 79.1 per cent to S$7.84 million. That was mostly due to the absence of S$25.2 million of revenue that Yoma could recognise in the year-ago period from selling land development rights in its Star City development.

Car revenue, however, jumped to S$6.4 million in the second quarter, from S$0.4 million a year earlier due to revenue contributed by the Convenience Prosperity unit, which was acquired in February 2015.

Yoma said it expects property buyers to delay purchases until a new government is formed in Myanmar. Longtime political figure Aung San Suu Kyi's National League for Democracy this month won Myanmar's general elections by a landslide.