Shun Tak Holdings, run by Stanley Ho Hung-sun, said its first-half profit dropped due to surging fuel costs, the Hong Kong Standard reported yesterday.
The company's interim net profit plunged 87.6 percent to 84.1 million Hong Kong dollars from 677.6 million Hong Kong dollars a year earlier. Turnover for the six months ended June 30 rose 32.2 percent to 1.81 billion Hong Kong dollars. Earnings per share were 3.6 HK cents. No interim dividend was declared.
Operating profit of the company's property division soared 103 percent to 120.8 million Hong Kong dollars from 59.5 million Hong Kong dollars, mainly due to increased revenue from property sales in Macau and Hong Kong, the report said.
The transportation division recorded an operating loss of 47.3 million Hong Kong dollars, compared to a profit of 123.9 million Hong Kong dollars a year earlier.
"The shipping operation confronted the considerable challenge of surging fuel prices during the first half of the year, when the average fuel price rose by 77 percent," Stanley Ho said in a statement Wednesday.