SINGAPORE (Aug 22): Nordic Group saw earnings increase 22% to $3.72 million in 2Q17 from $3.06 million in 2Q16.
The group’s revenue increased by 10% to $24.0 million in 2Q17 from $21.8 million in 2Q16, mainly attributed to additional revenue source from Ensure Engineering to the group’s Maintenance Services business unit.
For the 1H17 ended June, earnings rose 22% to $6.5 million as revenue grew 6% to $44 million.
On April 28, the group acquired 100% of Ensure for approximately $17.3 million.
The group incurred higher administration expenses of $3.1 million in 2Q17 ended June compared to $2.6 million last year, as a result of additional operating costs associated with Ensure.
Despite continual weakness in the offshore marine and oil and gas industries, Nordic managed to increase its basic earnings per share by 13% to 0.9 cents in 2Q17 from 0.8 cents in 2Q16.
As of June 30, the group’s cash and cash equivalents stood at $39.0 million
The board is recommending an interim dividend per share of 0.653 cents while maintaining a dividend pay-out ratio of approximately 40%.
The group says it secured $9.6 million worth of contracts comprising of multinational companies in the offshore marine, oil and gas, infrastructure and petrochemical industries.
Notably, Ensure secured $4.6 million worth of maintenance contracts from repeat customers.
Nordic also reported an outstanding order book of about $111.5 million including maintenance contracts as of June 30.
On the outlook, the group remains positive over the long term prospects in the marine, offshore oil and gas industries, petrochemical sectors and pharmaceutical industry.
Chang Yeh Hong, Executive Chairman of Nordic, says, “Barring any unforeseen circumstances, our Group expects to maintain our profitability going forward as we focus on enhancing returns for our valued shareholders.”
Shares in Nordic closed at 41 cents on Tuesday.