CSE Global’s net profit up 16.4% to $35.4m

Thanks to higher revenue from Asia-Pacific and the Americas.

CSE Global reported that its net profit increased 16.4% to $35.4m in FY14, while revenue grew 4.3% to $433.8m.

The increase in revenue was driven mainly by growth in Asia-Pacific and the Americas regions, but was partially offset by weakness in Europe/Middle East/Africa market.

Improved operating margins and large decline in finance expenses contributed to the improvement in FY14 core PATMI.

New orders received for FY14 grew 27.3% to $461.6m, while outstanding orders at the end of the FY14 stood at S$255m, higher than $227.2m at the end of FY13.

OCBC expects increased competition for greenfield projects while brownfield jobs will keep CSE’s earnings resilient as they are recurring from existing customers.

“With the updated growth guidance for FY15, stronger-than-expected ending order book and expectation of slight erosion in margins (i.e. <2%), we raise our FY15 revenue forecast by 2.1% but cut our PATMI projection by 8.9%. Consequently, our FV drops from S$0.68 to S$0.62 (based on 9x FY15F P/E),” stated OCBC.