24.05.2010

Strong fourth quarter for Tat Hong

Singapore based crane company Tat Hong has reported its full year headline numbers which show a 22 percent decline in revenues to S$495.4 million ($351.8 million), however in the fourth quarter it saw an 18 percent jump in revenues to S$130.9 ($92.9 million). Net profit for the year fell 44 percent to S$38.6 million ($27.4 million)

Equipment Sales
The strongest pick up in revenues came from equipment sales, which jumped 69 percent in the fourth quarter thanks to strong demand in Australia and some improvement in Singapore. Sales for the quarter were S$50.2 million ($35.6 million) although for the year as a whole they were still down 33 percent to S$170.9
Million ($121.3 million).

Crane Rental
Crane rental slipped eight percent due to some project deferments in Australia, key projects in Australia in the first three quarters, along with lower activity in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Middle East. The fourth quarter was more positive though with revenues picking up by nine percent compared to the same quarter last year.

General Equipment Rental
General Equipment rental dropped 39 percent to S$72.2 ($51.3 million)
due to the loss of Railcorp contracts as well as the discontinuation of Waste Management and the Heavy Haulage divisions in New South Wales.

Tower Crane Rental
Tower crane rental continued to grow with revenues up 37 percent to S$33.7 million ($23.9 million) for the year as a whole. The trend continued in the fourth quarter with utilisation running around 74 percent.

The company also says that it experienced a 19 percent fall in demand for replacement parts and services in the fourth quarter and down four percent for the year as a whole.

Chief executive Roland Ng said: “We are greatly encouraged by the commendable improvement for our Equipment Sales division this quarter, as this signals that market confidence could have started to recover and customers are actively procuring for projects again. If this trend continues for this Division, our 2011 performance will be strengthened. In addition, the Australian market has also reported that major resources and infrastructure projects that were previously deferred are now expected to commence. Should all these committed projects proceed as planned, we can anticipate a positive impact for our business divisions, in particular, our Crane Rental segment.”