STRACO Corporation, which operates tourism facilities such as the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium and the Singapore Flyer, reported a net profit of S$6.4 million for the half year ended June 2023.

 

This puts it back into the black, after a net loss of S$8.5 million in H1 2022.

 

The S$6.4 million net profit takes into account an exchange loss of nearly S$1.5 million as the renminbi weakened against the Singapore dollar in the current period, the company said in an earnings announcement on Monday (Aug 14).

 

The improved business performance came on the back of higher revenues across all of its three Chinese attractions as China eased its strict Covid-19 measures in December 2022.

 

The Singapore Flyer also reported significantly higher revenues as international visitor arrivals gradually recovered &ndash an improvement from last year when rides were suspended for about three months due to a technical issue found during a routine maintenance inspection, said the company.

 

For the first half of the year, Straco posted a 264 per cent gain in revenue to S$32.1 million, more than three times that of the S$8.8 million revenue it earned in H1 2022.

 

Earnings per share for the half year stood at 0.75 Singapore cent, compared to a loss per share of 0.99 cent in the same period last year.

 

The company did not declare a dividend as it usually pays out a final dividend annually at the end of the financial year.

TOURISM attractions operator Straco Corporation : S85 -7% is expecting a &ldquo substantial net loss&rdquo for FY2022, as compared to the net profit recorded in FY2021, the group said on Wednesday (Feb 8).

 

One reason it cited for the net loss is a decrease in revenue from Straco&rsquo s China attractions from FY2021 to FY2022. Additional measures, such as lockdowns imposed by Chinese municipal authorities in line with the zero-Covid policy, impacted visitor numbers, Straco said.

 

The group also recorded material exchange losses due to the weakened yuan against the Singapore dollar in FY2022. In FY2021, the group recorded exchange gains. 

 

As land lease relief and government grants from job support schemes were discontinued in FY2022, Straco recognised lower wage-support grants compared with the year before. 

 

The group is expecting a decrease in other income compared with FY2021, due to a one-off arbitration award for an insurance claim in FY2021.

 

Last June, Straco&rsquo s subsidiary and operator of the Singapore Flyer, Straco Leisure, was awarded S$103,727 (subject to a 10 per cent deductible) for property damage arising from machinery breakdown, and S$8.2 million for the loss of profits

 

Straco Corporation, on July 18, announced that it expects to report a material operating loss and negative operating cashflow for the 1HFY2022 ended June.

 

The group&rsquo s financials were affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, which &ldquo continues to have a severe impact on the tourism industry&rdquo .

 

Mainboard-listed Straco&rsquo s businesses include the Singapore Flyer, as well as indoor aquariums such as the Shanghai Ocean Aquarium and Underwater World Xiamen.

 

According to the group, its attractions faced service disruptions and had to adhere to pandemic control measures during the period.

 

Consequently, revenue across all of its subsidiaries &ldquo declined significantly&rdquo in the 1HFY2022.

 

The group says it is taking &ldquo prudent and measured steps&rdquo to ride over this &ldquo challenging time&rdquo as the global outlook on the pandemic and the recovery of the tourism industry remains uncertain.

 

&ldquo As an operator of public attractions, the group has continued to, and will continue to, ensure that visitors&rsquo experiences are not compromised despite the decrease in business activities, while concurrently reviewing and making operational adjustments to put a lid on business costs and expenditures,&rdquo says the group in a statement.

 

&ldquo The group was also impacted by the tight labour market and inflationary pressure, as such, wage cost reduction was not one of the measures sought to be undertaken during the period,&rdquo it adds.

 

The group will announce its results for the 1HFY2022 in August.

 

TOURISM attractions operator Straco Corporation posted a net loss of S$3 million in its fiscal first quarter ended March 31, compared with a net loss of S$390,000 in the year ago period.

 

In a business update on Tuesday (May 24), the group said the results came on the back of negative revenue growth from its attractions and business interruptions from Covid-19 measures.

 

Its attractions include the Singapore Flyer that had to close from Jan 16 to Apr 14 because of a technical issue. The issue, which came to light during a routine maintenance inspection, has since been resolved by way of a comprehensive investigation involving professional parties, it said.

 

The group said its operations in China experienced short periods of service suspension, adding that business activity had remained low even when Covid-19 measures were temporarily lifted.

 

Straco&rsquo s main operating assets in China are Shanghai Ocean Aquarium, the Lixing cable car service at Mount Lishan and Underwater World Xiamen.

 

However, the group said it expects sentiments to improve, given the gradual de-escalation of Covid-19 measures.

 

Despite the first-quarter losses, Straco said that its financial position &ldquo remains strong&rdquo with net cash holdings of S$165.7 million as at Mar 31. 

 

&ldquo The group will continue managing cash prudently and &ldquo be well placed to ride out this challenging time&rdquo , it added.

 

As for revenue, the group reported a 40.3 per cent drop to S$4.8 million, from S$8.1 million in the same period a year ago. 

 

The group, meanwhile, recorded a negative operating cash flow of S$3.2 million, compared to S$1.2 million in net cash generated in the first quarter of 2021.

 

On its outlook, Straco said it remains uncertain about how the pandemic or its abatement will eventually pan out. &ldquo Any recovery in business performance will likely be gradual,&rdquo it said.

 

In the meantime, the group will continue with various cost-cutting and cost-containment measures. Nevertheless, it said it is still cognisant of the need to look after the well-being and welfare of its workforce.

TOURISM attractions operator Straco Corporation posted a net profit of S$4.36 million in the third quarter ended Sep 30, the mainboard-listed company said in a business update on Thursday.

 

This represents a 32.4 per cent decline from the same period a year ago, when the group reported a net profit of S$6.45 million.

 

The group attributed Q3' s net profit to foreign exchange gain, with the Renminbi strengthening against the Singapore dollar, as well as receipts from the Singapore government' s Job Support Scheme and land rental waiver for the quarter.

 

Revenue in Q3 dipped 7 per cent to S$13.68 million, compared with S$14.71 million during the same quarter in 2020.

 

For the first 9 months of 2021, the group took in a net profit of S$14.04 million compared with a net loss of S$197,000 during the same period last year.

 

Straco said its operations in China had shown recovery with the partial resumption of domestic tourism but Singapore' s tourism sector continued to be affected by the lack of tourist arrivals.

 

Specifically in Q3, Straco' s China operations were affected by tightened domestic travel restrictions arising from a resurgence of Covid-19 cases in various provinces, resulting in lower visitor arrivals during the summer holidays.

 

Overall visitation to all its attractions was 18.5 per cent lower than the corresponding period in Q3 2020.

 

The company said its financial position remains strong with net cash holdings of S$173.1 million as at Sep 30.

 

It said it is cautiously optimistic that business environments will gradually improve with further lifting of travel restrictions, although it noted that reopening plans have been affected by period resurgences of Covid-19 cases despite the higher level of vaccinations and aggressive testing.

 

" Authorities in Singapore and China are acting with an abundance of caution to ensure that the situation does not degenerate to one where the healthcare system becomes overwhelmed," Straco said.

 

" The group will continue to monitor the situation, and be operationally ready to receive the influx of both local and international tourists to its attractions when the situation improves."

TOURISM attractions operator Straco Corp has received a notice from the collective sale committee (CSC) of International Plaza Singapore, where the company owns two office units.

 

In a bourse filing on Wednesday, Straco said that the units, which are for its own use, span about 4,218 square feet in total.

 

The indicative independent third-party market valuation of the two units was around S$7.5 million, based on the information memorandum prepared by the CSC for illustrative purposes.

 

That is roughly quadruple the two units' total carrying value of close to S$1.9 million in Straco' s unaudited financial statements for the half year ended June 30, 2021.

 

Straco, which operates the Singapore Flyer, said it received the collective sale notice on Aug 6. The notice stated that as at July 7, owners of 791 units out of 962 units, representing 80.33 per cent of the total share value and 83.58 per cent of the total strata area in the development, have signed the collective sale agreement.

 

The 50-storey International Plaza will soon be put on the market in what may potentially be Singapore' s largest collective sale in history, in terms of the number of units and value, Edmund Tie & Company said last Friday.

 

Another Singapore-listed company, A-Sonic Aerospace, said this week that it has office units in the building. The CSC' s information memorandum stated that A-Sonic' s 3,810 square feet of office space there was valued at about S$6.6 million and may fetch approximate gross sales proceeds of S$9.3 million.