Ezra Holdings

[Musicwhiz]

The journalist should take a closer look at the numbers. There was a US$34m exceptional gain from sale of AFS investments in 2Q 2012. If not for this, 2Q 2012 would have seen an operating loss! Gross margins also fell and debt levels have risen, plus yet again, no FCF was generated. I guess press releases are only supposed to highlight the positives eh?

The Straits Times
Apr 13, 2012
companies
Ezra Holdings' Q2 profit up 117%

By Gan Yu Jia

ROBUST returns from its subsea service projects, offshore support work and joint ventures helped marine firm Ezra Holdings boost second-quarter profit by 117 per cent.

Earnings for the three months to Feb 29 came in at US$22.1 million (S$27.7 million), up from US$8 million last year, while revenue shot up 114 per cent to US$211.8 million.

First-half net profits were US$35.4 million, a 66 per cent rise from US$21.3 million last year.

Revenue was ahead 124 per cent, from US$174.8 million last year to US$392.3 million.

This was mainly due to larger contributions from its units providing support services to subsea and offshore projects. These offset a decline in revenues from the marine services unit.

Ezra said it expects earnings to rise further in this half of the year as it executes its subsea order book in excess of US$1 billion.

Managing director Lionel Lee said in a statement: 'We will continue to focus on leveraging our integrated services to deliver long-term value to our shareholders.'

Earnings per share in the first half rose to 4.1 US cents as of Feb 29 from 2.76 US cents last year, while net asset value per share improved from 98.03 US cents as of Aug 31 last year to 101.59 US cents.

Ezra shares fell 0.5 cent to $1.12 yesterday.