Boustead Singapore H2 profit up 64% to S$37.3 million on improved revenue

ENGINEERING and technology group Boustead Singapore : F9D 0% has posted a 64 per cent increase in its second-half net profit.

In a bourse filing on Monday (May 27), it reported that net profit for the six months ended Mar 31, 2024 improved to S$37.3 million, up from S$22.7 million in the previous corresponding period.

The mainboard-listed company said this was due to higher gross profit and interest income, in addition to increased revenue from its geospatial, real estate solutions, and energy engineering businesses.

Revenue for the six months climbed 27 per cent to S$399.6 million from S$314.8 million.

This translated to earnings per share of 7.82 Singapore cents, up 64.6 per cent from 4.75 Singapore cents in the corresponding year-ago period.

The board has proposed a final dividend of four Singapore cents per share, up from 2.5 cents per share a year ago. This takes the dividend for FY24 to 5.5 Singapore cents per share, compared to four cents per share for FY23.

For the six months, gross profit increased 46 per cent to S$121.4 million, while interest income rose 28 per cent to S$10 million.

Revenue contributions from its geospatial sector increased 31 per cent to S$107.9 million, real estate solutions rose 20 per cent to S$199.2 million, while its energy engineering business climbed 45 per cent to S$86.3 million.

However, revenue for the healthcare division dropped 2 per cent to S$5.9 million.

For the full year, the group’s net profit climbed 42 per cent to S$64.2 million, while revenue increased 37 per cent to S$767.6 million.

Boustead noted that for the full year, its geospatial division set a new record and crossed S$200 million in revenue for the first time. It earned S$212.7 million, thanks to growth across all key markets and a “landmark” enterprise agreement in Australia.

Overall gross profit for FY24 came in 44 per cent higher at S$226.7 million, with gross profit margin at 30 per cent, up from 28 per cent the previous year.

Full-year interest income also improved by 42 per cent to S$18.6 million, due to higher yield on the group’s cash holdings and higher interest income from Boustead Projects’ (the company’s real estate arm) holding of notes in Boustead Industrial Fund.

However, margins were affected by increasing overhead expenses – 22 per cent higher at S$133.7 million – which were attributed to expansion in the geospatial and energy engineering divisions.

The share of loss of associates and joint ventures for FY24 was much higher at S$11.6 million compared to S$0.7 million the previous year, which the company attributed to depreciation expenses and interest costs from the commencement of operations of Boustead Projects’ joint-venture property at 28 and 30 Bideford Road.

The group said that global economic and political headwinds and ongoing conflicts affected its businesses’ development activities in FY24 and as a result, it secured S$159 million in new engineering contracts – the lowest level in almost 20 years.

It added that it was able to secure an additional S$36 million in contracts after the end of FY24, so its engineering order backlog (which includes unrealised project revenue from FY24 and the total value of new orders) is S$247 million. Its geospatial division’s deferred services backlog, accounted separately, stands at a record S$129 million.

Shares of Boustead Singapore ended 2.1 per cent or S$0.02 higher at S$0.995 on Monday, before the results were released.