Thakral Corporation’s net profit for the first quarter had more than doubled, which is boosted by a one-off gain and stronger sales from a property disposal.
Net profit for Q1 ended 31 March 2010 stood at $2 million, higher than $792,000 recorded in the same period last year.
This translates to 0.08-cent earnings per share for Q1, compared with last year’s 0.03 cent.
Thakral, which sells property and distributes consumer electronic products through a joint venture in Wujiang, said that quarterly revenue rose 13 percent to $111 million, which is attributed to higher sales of consumer electronic products in China and Hong Kong.
Earnings from that division, “excluding the legal damages and interest included in last year’s result”, jumped 83 percent to about $1.2 million.
The firm stressed that it also sold a few commercial property units in the first quarter, without specifying the exact number of units.
The property segment, which is made up of less than one percent of the group’s revenue, posted $700,000 sales, compared with almost $300,000 in 2009.
Other operating income increased 59 percent to $1.67 million, after Thakral made a $1.5-million profit from disposing of a residential property located in Chengdu, China. The firm has held this since the 1990s, said a spokeswoman.
Cost of sales was also up 13 percent to $106 million.
Gross profit increased 17 percent to $4.9 million. The firm’s profit margin held steady, at 4.4 percent compared with 4.3 percent last year.
Thakral currently puts to rest shareholder disagreements against the strategic direction of the firm. Hong Leong Group, a major shareholder, had pushed Thakral to focus on the consumer electronic business, after the proposed plans by the Thakral family to move into property as its core business, insisting that it would be more profitable.
Since December, Thakral has abandoned its plans to switch its core business.