Nordic Group has entered into a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) to acquire all the shares in Eratech for $10 million on Aug 25.

 

The consideration comprises a cash payment of $7.0 million to be made upon completion and the remaining $3.0 million to be paid six months from the date of completion.

 

The SPA, which was entered into by Nordic Group&rsquo s wholly-owned subsidiary, Avitools Singapore Pte. Ltd, was completed on the same day. Following the acquisition, Eratech will be a wholly-owned subsidiary of the group.

 

Eratech is a company that&rsquo s mainly in the business of providing precision machining and turnkey manufacturing services.

 

According to Nordic Group in a statement on May 24 when it entered into a non-binding term sheet with Eratech, the acquisition is in line with its strategy to increase its range of products and services as well as penetrate new markets.

 

In addition, the acquisition presents the opportunity for the group to widen its range of products and services as well as to tap into new customers in the precision engineering sector. It is expected that Eratech will provide increased revenue for the group&rsquo s precision engineering division.

 

Based on Eratech&rsquo s unaudited financial statements for the FY2021, the company&rsquo s net asset value (NAV) stood at $8.3 million as at Dec 31, 2021.

 

Under the agreement, Eratech&rsquo s net tangible assets (NTA) as at the date of completion should not be less than $8.3 million. The company&rsquo s cash and cash equivalents should not be less than $4.3 million on the same date.

 

In addition, Eratech should retain &ldquo sufficient working capital&rdquo of at least $4.0 million as at the date of completion to operate its business without further cash injection from Nordic Group.

 

On a pro forma basis, had the acquisition taken place at the end of FY2021, Nordic Group&rsquo s NTA per share would&rsquo ve remained unchanged at 17.5 cents. However, the group&rsquo s earnings per share (EPS) for the FY2021 ended Dec 31, 2021, would have increased to 4.4 cents from 3.6 cents.

SYSTEMS integration solutions provider Nordic Group : MR7 -1.18% reported a 49 per cent increase in H1 net profit to S$11.6 million from the S$7.8 million recorded in the previous corresponding financial period.

 

Its revenue also jumped &ndash rising 62 per cent to S$79.8 million from S$49.8 million previously, the mainboard-listed group reported in its business update for the first fiscal half ended Jun 30 on Friday (Aug 19).

 

Gross profit was also up, 65 per cent to S$23 million from S$14 million previously.

 

In May, the group reported winning S$19 million worth of contracts, which it signed with new and repeat clients from Singapore, Malaysia and China. It also said its subsidiary Avitools Singapore will be acquiring Eratech, a precision-machining and turnkey-manufacturing services company, for S$10 million.

 

In March, the group had clinched S$151.6 million in contracts through its different divisions and its newly-acquired Starburst Holdings subsidiary, with these jobs coming from new and repeat customers in Singapore, Malaysia, China and the Middle East.

 

In its outlook, the group said it remains positive over the long-term prospects in the marine, offshore oil and gas industries, and also the petrochemical, pharmaceutical, infrastructure, semiconductor and security services sectors.

 

It is also optimistic with the contract wins secured to date, the prudent cost and risk management initiatives undertaken and the opportunities for further mergers and acquisitions, it added.

 

&ldquo The group is, however, mindful of the possibility of new Covid-19 variants pushing the global supply chain and travel back on restrictions. The global inflationary pressures are also monitored to adjust for the impact on the necessary materials,&rdquo noted Nordic Group.

 

Nordic Group has reported earnings of $11.6 million for 1HFY2022 ended June 30, up 49% y-o-y.

 

Revenue in the same period was up 62% y-o-y to $79.8 million, as it fulfilled more contracts in service and maintenance.

 

The company, led by executive chairman Chang Yeh Hong (picture), plans to pay an interim dividend of 1.162 cents per share, versus 0.98 cents per share paid for 1HFY2021.

 

Nordic says it won new contracts of some $170.6 million in 1HFY2022, bringing its total order book to $232.7 million. The orders are to be fulfilled over the coming three years.

 

Of the new orders, $90.1 million came from Starburst, which builds and maintains shooting ranges.

Earlier this year, Nordic completed the acquisition of Starburst for $62 million.

 

&ldquo The group is optimistic with the number of contract wins, signifying the long-term recovery and prospect of the operational sectors, and will continue to manage the costs and risks prudently so as to deliver value to shareholders,&rdquo says the company.

 

Citing a survey from the Singapore Economic Development Board, Nordic notes that the highlights the marine and offshore engineering sector is seeing better sentiment along with higher energy prices.

 

The precision engineering sector, which it serves as well, is also seeing higher production levels, which is in contrast to the wider manufacturing sector.

 

Nevertheless, the group is &ldquo mindful of the possibility of new Covid-19 variants pushing the global supply chain and travel back on restrictions.&rdquo

 

&ldquo The global inflationary pressures are also monitored to adjust for the impact on the necessary materials,&rdquo the company says.

 

NORDIC Group : MR7 +2.53% on Wednesday (May 25) posted a net profit of S$5.2 million for Q1 2022, representing a 49 per cent year-on-year increase from S$3.5 million.

 

In its business update for the first quarter ended Mar 31, 2022, the precision engineering and systems integration solutions provider reported revenue of S$40.1 million, up 64 per cent from S$24.5 million last year. 

 

About a quarter or S$10 million of its revenue for Q1 was derived from cleanroom, air and water services. Another 20 per cent or S$8 million of revenue came from the group&rsquo s system integration and facility management segment. 

 

Nordic attributed the strong revenue performance to consistent growth and diversification of its revenue stream, such as through the group&rsquo s acquisitions of scaffolding, energy and engineering companies over the past decade. 

 

This has helped to effectively reduce industry-specific risks, noted the group. 

 

Gross profit margin increased by 2 percentage points to 28 per cent, while the group&rsquo s net profit margin fell 1 percentage point to 13 per cent.

 

The latest set of results brings earnings per share for Q1 to 1.3 Singapore cents, representing a 44 per cent increase from 0.9 cent in Q1 FY2021.

 

Excluding maintenance contracts, Nordic Group&rsquo s order book stood at S$258.5 million as at Apr 30, 2022. 

 

Net asset value per share as at end-March 2022 stood at 26.3 cents as opposed to 25.2 cents as at end-2021.  

 

Noting &ldquo some market optimism&rdquo on the back of increased crude oil prices, Nordic said it remains positive on its long-term prospects but expects &ldquo certain pressures&rdquo on cost due to the limit pool of skilled workers in Singapore. 

 

NORDIC Group said its subsidiary Avitools Singapore will be acquiring a precision-machining and turnkey-manufacturing services company for S$10 million, as the group announced separately that it has clinched S$19 million in contracts.

 

In a bourse filing on the proposed acquisition of Eratech on Tuesday (May 24), the systems-integration solutions provider said Avitools Singapore has entered into a non-binding term sheet to buy the entire issued and paid-up share capital of Eratech.

 

The move is expected to raise the revenue of the group&rsquo s precision-engineering division, as it presents an opportunity for the group to widen its range of products and services and expand its customer base, it added.

 

The acquisition will be financed through internally generated funds and bank borrowings.

 

The S$10 million purchase consideration was worked out based on the company&rsquo s net tangible assets &ndash about S$8.3 million as at Dec 31, 2021 &ndash and earnings, the group noted. 

 

The group said the sale is subject to a condition that Eratech has cash and cash equivalents of at least S$4.3 million in the bank on the completion date.

 

In a separate bourse filling, Nordic Group said the S$19 million worth of contracts that the group won were signed with new and repeat clients from Singapore, Malaysia and China. Among them are multinational companies and companies in the marine, offshore oil and gas, petrochemical, semiconductor and infrastructure industries or sectors.

 

The biggest set of contracts are for a S$9.1 million project to insulate, scaffold and maintain plant and equipment in an infrastructure. It did not name this facility, but said the maintenance contract spans 3 years and ends in April 2025.

 

Its system-integration division looks after another S$5.7 million in marine contracts, of which S$1.5 million is for the manufacture of valves and actuators, control and tank-gauging systems and upgrading of a water-ballast system. The remaining amount is for electrical and instrumentation work, which will mainly be completed in the first half of next year.

 

Another S$2.2 million is for machining services and mechanical assembly, to be completed in the second and third quarters of this year. 

 

The last S$2 million are for services of its cleanroom, air and water engineering solutions division. These projects are mainly in Malaysia and will be completed in the first quarter of next year.

Nordic Group obtains S$151.6m worth of contracts
 

NORDIC Group Nordic : MR7 +7.41% has clinched S$151.6 million in contracts through its different divisions and its newly-acquired Starburst Holdings subsidiary.

 

The contracts come from new and repeat customers in Singapore, Malaysia, China and the Middle East, the systems integration solutions provider said in a bourse filing on Monday night (Mar 21).

 

As at Jan 31, Starburst Holdings, which holds the group' s system integration and facility management divisions, has remaining capital projects and maintenance contracts worth about S$32.6 million and S$57.5 million respectively. The capital projects will mainly be completed in Q1 2023, while the maintenance contracts span 1-11 years.

 

Earlier this year, Nordic made a S$0.238 per share offer for Starburst, which was listed on the Singapore Exchange' s Catalist board at the time. Subsequently, Starburst was delisted after losing its free float.

 

Starburst is one of the few regional players with capabilities in anti-ricochet ballistic protection systems, which are used for shooting ranges and tactical training mock-ups.

 

Nordic' s cleanroom, air and water engineering solutions division bagged maintenance and capital projects of around S$20.4 million and S$23.4 million respectively.

 

Its precision engineering division bagged around S$9.8 million for machining services and mechanical assembly. These contracts will be mainly completed in Q2 2022.

 

The group' s scaffolding, insulation services and petrochemical and environmental engineering divisions obtained S$4.8 million for insulation, scaffolding work and maintenance of plant and equipment at certain infrastructures. The contracts are mainly for 1 year, ending Dec 31, 2022.

 

Meanwhile, the group' s system integration division obtained about S$3.1 million in contracts for a series of 16 new vessels and variation orders on existing orders. These systems will be delivered from H2 2022 to Q1 2023.

 

Nordic does not expect the contracts to have a material impact on its consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share for the current financial year.