Lifestyle group Amara Holdings is back in the black after it reported a $7.6 million profit in its FY2021 ended December, a reversal from the $11.4 million loss in the same period a year ago.
It’s full year revenue was at $66.9 million, up 10% y-o-y from the FY2020 figure of $61.1 million.
In its 2HFY2021 results, Amara logged a revenue and profit of $35 million and $4.7 million, up from $33.2 million and a loss of $7.8 million in 2HFY2020.
Amara said the increase in revenue was mainly due to higher revenue from the hotel investment and management segment and sales of development properties.
While most of its costs remained stable, the cost of properties sold and consumables used for FY 2021 increased by 83% to $6.9 million, from $3.8 million in FY 2020.
This was mainly due to the progressive recognition of development costs in the property investment and development segment.
See also: IHH Healthcare’s 3QFY2024 patmi remains flat at RM534 mil
Finance costs for FY2021 decreased by 23% to $8.3 million, from $10.7 million in FY2020. This was mainly due to lower interest rate on bank borrowings.
Most notably, income tax expense for FY2021 increased by 596% to $2.4 million, from $0.3 million in FY2020.
This was mainly due to higher tax expense arising from the hotel investment and management segment in FY2021, as well as an offset of deferred tax credit arising from fair value loss of investment properties in FY2020.
In its outlook, Amara says that its hotel segment is likely to see further recovery in 2022, as air travel and visitor arrivals are expected to improve.
See also: Marco Polo Marine reports lower 2HFY2024 earnings of $10.7 mil, down 42% y-o-y
This is with many global economies embarking to reopen their respective borders in view of growing vaccination rates.
For the Singapore market, the company notes the recent announcements of simplification to Covid-19 curbs, as well as the resumption and expansion of vaccinated travel lanes.
This will help to accelerate the recovery of the accommodation, food and beverage and MICE services.
For its residential properties segment, Amara pointed at the Urban Redevelopment Authority’s (URA) real estate statistics released in end January 2022, that indicated a 10.6% increase in prices of private residential properties for the full year of 2021.
The company says the pace of growth for private residential property prices is likely to slow down in 2022, following the property cooling measures introduced by the Government in mid-December 2021 and rising interest rates.
In light of the results, Amara declared a dividend of 0.5 cent per share for FY2021.
Shares of Amara Holdings closed flat on Mar 1 at 35 cents.
Photo: Amara Holdings
