Oxley Holdings, on Feb 14, reported earnings of $34.1 million for the 1HFY2021 ended December, 117% higher than earnings of $15.7 million a year ago.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the period stood at 0.81 cents compared to 0.37 cents the year before.

There was no dividend declared for the period, compared to the 0.32 cents per share that was paid out in the 1HFY2020.

Half-year revenue stood 25% y-o-y higher at $745.3 million due to higher contribution from a wholly-owned subsidiary in Australia that was consolidated into the group’s results from October 2019.

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Excluding revenue from the Australian subsidiary, revenue would have been 9% higher y-o-y due to higher revenue from the development projects in Cambodia, Singapore and the UK. The higher revenue was partly offset by lower revenue from the project in Ireland and hotels in Singapore, said the group.

Gross profit for the 1HFY2021 stood 9% higher y-o-y at $103.7 million. Gross profit margin (GPM) stood 2 percentage points lower y-o-y due to lower margins from the subsidiary group in Australia and the development projects in the UK and Ireland, and offset by higher margins from the project in Cambodia.

Other income for the 1HFY2021 was higher at $3.8 million compared to the $0.7 million recorded the year before, due mainly to government grants.

Other gains were attributable to unrealised foreign exchange gain from the translation of US dollar (USD)-denominated euro medium term notes (EMTNs) and bank borrowings due to the depreciation of the USD against the Singapore dollar (SGD) during the period.

Share of results from associates and joint ventures for 1HFY2021 was 82% lower y-o-y at $2.2 million mainly due to the absence of share of profit from an associated company in the UK, which was divested in 2HFY2020.

As at Dec 31, 2020, the group had cash and cash equivalents of $189.0 million.

SEE: Oxley Holdings says GBP exposure ‘limited’

As at Jan 31, it secured total sales of $9.1 billion for its development portfolio, of which $3.7 billion and $5.3 billion were attributable to its Singapore and overseas portfolios respectively.

The group also reported that its hotels on Stevens Road have been fully operational and generated positive cash flows from operations. The hotels were signed up as government quarantine and stay-home notice (SHN) facilities since March 2020.

In its outlook statement, Oxley says it is “looking forward” to beginning the development of a two-hectare site at Connolly Station in Dublin, Ireland, into a 1 million sqft mixed-use development comprising residential units, a hotel block, as well as office and retail space.

“2020 has been a challenging year as the world comes to grip with the ramifications from the Covid-19 pandemic… Despite the challenges, Oxley has achieved respectable financial results of $40 million net profit and $268 million positive operating cash flows during the 6-month period up to Dec 31, 2020,” says Ching Chiat Kwong, Oxley’s executive chairman and CEO.

“Oxley is proactively managing the evolving situation to complete the ongoing projects expeditiously and to continue generating positive cash flows for the group,” Ching adds.

Shares in Oxley closed flat at 23 cents on Feb 11.