Khairani Afifi Noordin Thu, May 26, 2022
Boustead Singapore reported a 90% decline in net profit of $9.3 million for its 2HFY2022 ended March 31, bringing the full-year net profit to $30.6 million, 73% lower y-o-y.
After adjusting for other gains and losses net of non-controlling interests, impairments and the Jobs Support Scheme, net profit for 2HFY2022 would have been 32% lower y-o-y.
For 2HFY2022, overall revenue was 26% lower y-o-y at $291.5 million, due to the impact of the prolonged Covid-19 pandemic, inflationary pressures and volatile global geoeconomic and geopolitical environment. These had resulted in a lack of business development opportunities, affecting revenue and order backlog.
Overall revenue for FY2022 was 8% lower y-on-y at $631.8 million.
Boustead’s net asset value per share was 89.9 cents at the end of FY2022, compared to 92.3 cents at the end of FY2021.
The net cash position declined to $387.9 million at the end of FY2022, translating to a net cash per share position of 80.4 cents.
Its current order backlog of $274 million, of which $39 million is under the Energy Engineering Division and $235 million is under the Real Estate Division, remains significantly lower compared to $447 million disclosed in the FY2021 financial results announcement. The Geospatial Division, however, improved the deferred services backlog to $113 million remaining at the end of FY2022, the company highlighted.
The company has proposed a final dividend of 2.5 cents per share for shareholders’ approval. Taken along with the interim dividend of 1.5 cents per share already paid, the total dividend paid and proposed for FY2022 is 4 cents per share, comparable to the total ordinary dividends for FY2021.
Boustead chairman and CEO Wong Fong Fui said FY2022 bore the full brunt of Covid-19, made worse by challenges like supply chain and cost disruptions — among others — that are deeply felt in its engineering and construction activities.
“Among our divisions, Geospatial delivered steadfast results while Healthcare continued to underperform and in this respect, we will step up on our efforts to address the challenges faced.
“Moving ahead, we hope to see an easing of the pandemic’s impact, with Covid-19 cases receding and restrictions lifted in many parts of the world. However, we expect the overall business situation to continue to be challenging in the coming year, with no imminent end to the Ukraine-Russia conflict that has escalated challenges like inflationary pressures,” he added.
Shares in Boustead closed 0.5 cents lower or 0.52% down on May 26 at 96 cents.