Civil engineering company Hock Lian Seng has reported earnings of $32 million for the FY2024 ended Dec 31, 2024, up 20.4% y-o-y from the $26.6 million reported in the same period a year ago. 

 

For the 2HFY2024, however, earnings came in 34.3% y-o-y lower at $11.6 million, down from $17.7 million in 2HFY2023. 

 

Earnings per share for the FY2024 came in at 6.25 cents per share, an increase from the 5.19 cents per share reported in the corresponding period. 

 

The group&rsquo s FY2024 revenue saw a 9.2% y-o-y decrease to $183.5 million, while gross profit grew 30.9% y-o-y to $30.4 million.

 

For the 2HFY2024, revenue also decreased 12.7% y-o-y to $83.6 million, and gross profit saw a 44.7% y-o-y decrease to $9.1 million. 

 

By segment, the group&rsquo s civil engineering revenue saw a 81.9% y-o-y increase for the FY2024 to $150.2 million, while property development saw a 18% y-o-y increase in revenue to $33.1 million. Investment properties saw a 0.1% y-o-y increase in revenue to $200,000.  

 

The group says that revenue for FY2024 decreased as the civil engineering segment recorded lower sales. This is from the completion of the Changi Airport joint venture (CAG JV) project in December 2023. 

 

Gross profit increased due to civil engineering finalising accounts as the CAG JV projects near completion. 

 

Other income amounted to $14.5 million, a decrease of $0.5 million mainly due to the lower rental income for unsold units of $1.7 million and one off income of legal cost award of $1.1 million in 2023. This was offset by higher interest income of $0.9 million and fair valuation gain for investment securities of $0.6 million and gain on sales of fixed assets $0.7 million.

 

The company has declared a final dividend of 1.80 cents per share for the FY2024. 

 

Civil engineering company Hock Lian Seng has reported earnings of $20.4 million for the 1HFY2024 ended June 30, 128.7% higher y-o-y or more than double its earnings of $8.9 million in the corresponding period the year before.

 

While revenue fell by 6% y-o-y to $99.8 million, the company&rsquo s gross profit more than quadrupled to $21.3 million from $6.8 million in the 1HFY2023. The revenue decline was attributed to the lower revenue for Hock Lian Seng&rsquo s civil engineering segment and offset by the high turnover from its property development segment.

 

Gross profit surged due to growth from both segments. The higher gross profit from the company&rsquo s civil engineering arm was mainly due to the finalisation of account with subcontractors as the joint venture (JV) project with Changi Airport Group (CAG) nears completion. In addition, higher revenue and favourable selling prices for the company&rsquo s units at Shine@Tuas South saw an added $7.5 million gross profit for the property development segment. Shine@Tuas South is an industrial property at 11 Tuas South Link 1.

 

As at June 30, cash and cash equivalents stood at $156.1 million, up from $129.5 million as at June 30, 2023.

 

As at the same period, the company&rsquo s civil engineering order book stood at $624 million. This includes the projects for the future Aviation Park MRT Station on the Cross Island Line and the future Serangoon North MRT station also on the Cross Island Line. The JV project with CAG is expected to be completed by the 3Q2024.

 

Meanwhile, Shine@Tuas South has sold about 50% of its units and leased 46% of its total units to date. According to Hock Lian Seng, the interest for industrial building units has picked up since early 2023.

 

&ldquo The outlook of construction industry remains challenging on the back of competitive environment, labour shortage, rising material and labour cost. The management will continue to tender for infrastructure projects competitively and explore other business opportunities to enhance the shareholders&rsquo value,&rdquo says the company in its financial statements on Aug 7.