PROPERTY developer Wing Tai Holdings widened its net loss in the second half of its 2024 fiscal year ended Jun 30 to S$99.2 million, nearly doubling its losses from S$50 million a year ago.
Its revenue also fell by 67 per cent to S$71.5 million over the same period, mainly due to lower contributions from its development properties, the company said on Tuesday (Aug 27). Among them is a condominium project called The M, which is experiencing lower progressive sales.
Loss per share for H2 came in at S$0.1338 per share, compared with S$0.0701 in the same period a year ago.
The biggest hit to the company’s bottom line came from the performance of its associated and joint venture companies, which netted a loss of S$90.9 million for the half year – more than double the loss of S$43.8 million in H2 FY2023.
One of these companies is Wing Tai Properties, a developer of residential and commercial projects in Hong Kong, where property prices have been depressed for some time.
Wing Tai Holdings’ share of loss arising from its Hong Kong associate came in at S$108 million for the full fiscal year. This was largely attributable to the provision for impairment losses on its development properties and the fair value losses on its investment properties in Hong Kong.
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Wing Tai Holdings owns 33 per cent of Wing Tai Properties, based on its latest annual report. The group issued a profit warning regarding its Hong Kong associate two weeks ago, and on Aug 6, it announced it was likely to report a loss for FY2024 due to fair value changes and impairments for overseas properties.
For the full year, Wing Tai Holdings reported a net loss of S$78.7 million, a reversal from a net profit of S$13.3 million in FY2023.
Revenue came in at S$169.2 million, a 64 per cent drop over the same period.
Loss per share for the full year stood at S$0.1113, compared with earnings per share of S$0.0087 last year.
The company has recommended a first and final dividend of S$0.03 per share.
Wing Tai Holdings said that it is cautiously optimistic and expects the buying sentiment for private residential property in Singapore to improve over time, with inflation moderating and interest rates trending downwards.
Shares of Wing Tai Holdings closed down 0.8 per cent or S$0.01 at S$1.26 on Tuesday.
