Jardine Matheson’s underlying profit sinks 33% in H1 2024

The decline was mainly due to weaker contributions from Hongkong Land.

Jardine Matheson reported a 33% decline in underlying profit in H1 2024 to $735m (US$550m) from $982m (US$735m) a year ago.

The decline was mainly due to weaker contributions from Hongkong Land, which faced non-recurring impairments on certain development projects in mainland China.

Excluding the impairments at Hongkong Land, the company’s underlying profit for the period was down 14% due to expected headwinds from lower commodity prices at Astra and lower new car margins on the Chinese mainland.

Underlying earnings per share also dropped by 33% to $2.55 (US$1.91), whilst interim dividend per share stood at $0.80 (US$0.60) per share.

Meanwhile, revenue for the period dipped 5% to $23m (US$17.2m) from $24.3m (US$18.2m) in H1 2023.