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MAINBOARD-LISTED Straco Corporation has reported a net profit of $1.3 million for the second quarter ended June 30, despite a $1.04 million foreign exchange loss as the Chinese renminbi weakened against the Singapore dollar.
The China-based developer and operator of tourism-related attractions reported a 10.2 per cent rise in Q2 revenue to $8.36 million, up from $7.59 million a year back.
This was despite flat visitor numbers at its two main attractions - Shanghai Ocean Aquarium and Underwater World Xiamen.
For the six months to end-June, net profit grew 71.6 per cent to $3.45 million, from $2.17 million a year earlier. This was on a 13 per cent rise in half-year revenue to $15.52 million.
The company ended H1 with $37 million cash, equivalent to cash per share of 4.25 cents.
It had zero gearing and a net asset value per share of 11.24 cents - versus its current share price of 11 cents.
Straco's founder and executive chairman Wu Hsioh Kwang said the company has emerged relatively unscathed from the economic slowdown and the H1N1 flu outbreak.
'We are happy with the Q2 results,' he said. 'While not totally insulated from the impact of macro factors, our business has proved to be quite resilient. Overall performance for H1 was satisfactory. Our earnings per share increased 74 per cent, to 0.4 cent, compared with H1 2008.'
Mr Wu is upbeat on domestic tourism in China: 'The diminishing H1N1 threat and the improvement in consumer confidence augur well,' he said.
The National Bureau of Statistics reported that China's economic growth accelerated to 7.9 per cent in Q2, thanks to a stimulus-fuelled surge in consumer spending, factory output and investment.
In H1, the gross domestic product of the world's third-largest economy grew 7.1 per cent, while the consumer price index eased 1.1 per cent.
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