United Engineers reported a 593 per cent improvement in net profit surge to S$8.5 million in the first quarter of this year.
Revenue for the company also grew 11 per cent to S$148.9 million.
The company said this is mainly due to progressive recognition of revenue from the sales of its residential projects, The Rochester in one-north and Park Central @ AMK in Ang Mo Kio.
United Engineers said it has an order book of S$741 million and will continue to execute several large-scale building and infrastructure projects over the next 12 months.
But it foresees stiffer competition in replenishing its order book because of the challenging economic environment.
The group said maintaining current gross margins will also be a challenge going forward.
It expects its interest expense to increase because of higher loan margins charged by banks as a result of the current credit crunch.
But the company said this will be mitigated by its renounceable underwritten rights issue of S$133 million due in 2014.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 14 May 2009