Engineering services provider Boustead Projects on Wednesday reported a 31 percent rise in second-quarter profit, helped by improved gross margin and cost savings.
Net profit attributable to shareholders rose to S$9.5 million in the three months ended September 30 from S$7.3 million in the corresponding period last year, the company said in a regulatory filing.
Revenue fell 19 percent to S$50.1 million due to lower revenue contributions from both the design-and-build and leasing businesses, the company said.
Designand-build revenue dropped 22 percent to S$42.2 million, as the previous year's comparative period had more projects with greater work progress, and there was a lower total value of contracts secured during FY2017 for revenue conversion during the quarter.
Leasing revenue declined 5 percent to S$7.9 million, mainly impacted by the lack of contribution from 36 Tuas Road.
"Looking ahead, we expect the second half of FY2018 to remain challenging. We shall emphasise on driving cost and productivity improvements," said Thomas Chu, Managing Director of Boustead Projects in a statement.
The current order book backlog stands at about S$175 million, the company said.
Shares in Boustead Projects ended unchanged at S$0.865 on the Singapore Exchange on Wednesday. The stock has gained about 20 percent so far this year.
