Revenue was up 27.2% to S$54.5m

REAL estate management services group LHN Group : 41O 0% posted a net profit of S$13 million for the half-year ended Mar 31, 2024, down 23.4 per cent from S$16.9 million the year before.

 

This includes the results of a non-wholly owned subsidiary, LHN Logistics, which LHN Group had disposed of in August last year. If the results were excluded, LHN&rsquo s H1 2024 net profit would have been S$13 million, down 14.6 per cent from $15.2 million.

 

The group&rsquo s revenue increased 27.2 per cent to S$54.5 million from S$42.9 million in H1 2023. This was due to the increase in revenue from the Space Optimisation Business and the Facilities Management Business.

 

The company classified the leasing of its industrial, residential and commercial properties under space optimisation, while its facilities management (FM) business covers FM services and car parking management.

 

In its bourse filing on Monday (May 13), the company said its revenue generated from Facilities Management Business had increased 13.6 per cent or S$2.1 million to S$17.2 million in H1 2024, largely due to increase in FM services and revenue from car park business secured in Singapore in Q4 FY2023.

 

For its Space Optimisation Business, revenue from residential properties jumped 88.6 per cent to S$20.6 million in H1 2024 from S$10.9 million in H1 2023. LHN said the increase was due to its co-living business under Coliwoo in Singapore and overseas properties.

 

Earnings per share was 3.17 Singapore cents, down from 4.14 cents the year before. LHN has proposed an interim dividend of S$0.01 per share for H1 2024, which is the same amount declared in the year ago period. 

 

In its business outlook, LHN said it has forecasted its co-living business to drive the group&rsquo s residential segment forward, supported by a pipeline of new projects, recent tender win and acquisition plan.

 

LHT Holdings : BEI +3.97% managing director and CEO Yap Mui Kee acquired 49,800 shares on Apr 30 at an average price of S$1.196 per share. This takes her direct interest in the home-grown pallet manufacturer from 17.18 to 17.27 per cent, and followed her acquisition of 138,000 shares at an average price of S$1.186 each between Apr 19 and 23.

 

Yap has gradually increased her direct interest in LHT from 14.12 per cent in August 2021. In her role, she has overseen the sales and marketing functions of the group for more than 35 years, and is responsible for exploring new markets for the company and aligning its research and development efforts for new products based on the market needs.

 

She also plays an active role in the group&rsquo s efficient consumer response pallet rental business in Singapore and Malaysia. For FY2023 (ended Dec 31), LHT&rsquo s revenue for pallet rental decreased 11.4 per cent year on year to S$4.57 million due to lower rental pallet demand resulting from a decline in regional warehousing demand.

 

The group said that as the region is expected to grow, although at a slower pace, it is confident that pallet rental demand will continue to be strong in the near to mid-term.

The group attributes the expected drop to the absence of a one-off gain and discontinued operations from disposals

MAINBOARD-LISTED LHN : 41O 0% warned that it expects net profit to drop 28.6 per cent to no less than S$14.5 million for the first half ended Mar 31, 2024, from S$20.3 million in the previous corresponding period.

 

In a profit guidance update released on Sunday (May 5), the real estate management services company attributed the lower net profit estimate to the absence of a one-off gain from the disposal of associate Getgo Technologies and a lower gain from net investment in subleases.

 

Another factor is the absence of profit from discontinued operations in relation to the group&rsquo s disposal in LHN Logistics and its group of companies.

 

LHN Logistics, of which LHN was previously majority shareholder, was delisted from the Singapore Exchange&rsquo s Catalist board on Nov 1, 2023, following its compulsory acquisition by China&rsquo s Milkyway Chemical.

 

The lower profit was partially offset by an increase in earnings from the group&rsquo s co-living business and a lower net fair value loss on the group and joint ventures&rsquo investment properties.

 

The company said that the information is based on the preliminary assessment of its unaudited financial results, which it expects to release in &ldquo due course&rdquo .