Straits Trading : earnings more than triple to $6.6 million in 2Q The Edge Markets (Online)

15/08/2016 Straits Trading's earnings more than triple to $6.6 mil in 2Q

SINGAPORE (Aug 12): The Straits Trading Company reported earnings for 2Q16 more than tripled to $6.6 million from $1.8 million a year ago.

This was partially due to income from fair value changes in financial assets related to mark­to­market gains from marketable securities, which rose to $1.8 million in the second quarter, compared to losses of $4.2 million in 2Q last year.

Revenue in 2Q16 grew 7.8% to $139.5 million in 2Q16, compared to $129.5 million in the corresponding quarter last year.

In a filing on SGX on Friday, Straits Trading says the improved performance was due to higher contributions across all business segments.

Property revenue more than doubled to $4.0 million in 2Q16, a 115.9% increase from $1.8 million posted in 2Q15.

"Straits Real Estate, our 89.5%­owned real estate investment vehicle, continues its strategy of tapping into higher returning real estate investment opportunities," says Executive Chairman Chew Gek Khim, adding that it recently acquired three residential properties in Central Osaka.

Tin mining and smelting revenue grew 6.2% to $135.5 million in 2Q, from $127.6 million in the same period last year.

Earnings per share was 1.6 cents in 2Q16, compared to 0.4 cents in 2Q15.

"Our strategy of building platforms for growth and sustainable earnings is proving to be successful, as evinced by the improved underlying performance across our businesses," says Chew.

Straits Trading closed 0.5% lower at $2.02 on Friday.

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