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Advanced Holdings achieves another record year with tripled net profit of
$12.2m and turnover of $87.3m.
Advanced Holdings Ltd. (“Advanced” or “the Group”), today reported a more
than 3-fold jump in net profit to $12.2m and a surge in revenue to $87.3m for the 12
months ended December 31, 2007 (“FY07"). This was achieved on the back of
strong contributions from Petrochemical & Chemicals and overall improvement in
sales in key markets, including China, Middle East, Asia, Europe and USA.
The sterling performance was attributed mainly by the enhanced contributions in all
core business sectors of the Group – in particular the petrochemical and chemicals
sector, which registered nearly 5-fold revenue growth.
Reflecting the spectacular performance, Advanced’s Earnings per Share (“EPS”)
soared to 4.33 cents, compared with 1.42 cents previously. Net Asset Value (“NAV”)
per share almost doubled to 21.67 cents, compared with 12.20 cents as of
December 31, 2006. The improvements in EPS and NAV per share are achieved
despite a larger share base of approximately 308 million shares as compared to 259
million shares in FY06.
The cash in hand also increased substantially from $27.3 million to $50.9 million.
During the year, $26.8 million was raised from the placement exercise in August
2007. This will enable the Group to take advantage of acquisition opportunities and
future expansion of the business.
To express appreciation to shareholders for their support, the Company is
recommending a final, tax-exempt dividend of 0.75 cents per share. This will bring
the total dividend payout for the year to 1.25 cents per share as compared to 0.6
cents per share in FY2006.
Dr. Kar Wong, Managing Director of Advanced, said: “The record performance for
FY07 reflects the success of our 4-pronged strategy which we have embarked on to
strengthen our global foothold and to drive business and sales growth in our key
markets – particularly in China, Middle East and Asia where the demands for
Petrochemicals & Chemicals and Oil & Gas infrastructures and process
technologies, equipments and services are rising rapidly.”
“Riding on the continued boom in the global energy market and the sustained
industrial growth in the region’s fast-growing emerging economies, we enjoyed
improved performance in all our key markets. We will continue to invest our
resource in developing new markets, enhancing our professional capabilities and
strengthening our geographical presence to enable us to better serve our customers
in return for increased revenue and profits.”
Revenue by Core Industry Sectors
For the financial year under review, providing a big push to revenue growth is the
contribution from the Group’s Petrochemical & Chemical and Oil & Gas sectors
which accounted for the major share of the Group revenue at 63.3% and 21.6%
respectively
The Petrochemical & Chemical and Iron & Steel sector surged to $55.3 million and
$11.0 million respectively, reflecting excellent organic growth from increase in highvalue
projects secured and undertaken.
Oil & Gas sector also enjoyed a good growth of $9.4 million.
Revenue by Geographical Markets
In terms of breakdown of revenue by geographical markets, China continues to be a
major market and influential growth driver to the Group, with sales more than tripled
to $53.3m.
Notably, revenue contributions from new markets such as Middle East and Europe/
USA, have presented strong growth and achieved $12.2 million and $5.2 million
respectively. Revenue contribution from Asia, in particular our new market from
Vietnam, increases significantly to $16.5 million.
Material Contracts in Hand
During the second half of FY07, the Group had secured and announced a number of
material contracts amounting to approximately $33.4 million. As of 31st December
2007, the Group has an order book of approximately $72.0m.
Growth Strategy
The Group will continue to pursue the successful, 4-pronged strategy that
encompasses organic growth, investing in strategic technologies and products,
making strategic investments and acquisitions and augmenting its professional and
engineering competencies In addition, the Group will keep exploring suitable merger
and acquisition opportunities to expand geographically as well as forging strategic
alliances with leading and renowned technologies partners to increase the range of
products and technologies for the environment and water businesses.
Prospects Going Forward
Looking ahead, Advanced remains cautiously optimistic of its performance in
FY2008. It expects future growth to come from Asia, Middle East, Europe and USA,
in particular Middle East and China where there are significant demands from the Oil
& gas, petrochemicals & chemicals and environmental sectors. It aims to grow in
these regions by strengthening its presence through organic growths, strategic
investments and acquisitions, and establishing new offices in these regions. The
Group has also intensified its efforts and activities in the environmental solutions and
clean energy businesses and which are expected to grow positively in the future.
Date 19 Feb 2008
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