First-quarter earnings disappoint KBC investors

First-quarter earnings disappoint KBC investors

 More than a million Kinh Bac City Development Corp (KBC) shares were exchanged every day for over a week, bringing investors hope of a positive business result in the first quarter.

However, the company's first-quarter earnings report, released on Tuesday, revealed that the corporation incurred a combined net loss of nearly VND55.2 billion (US$2.6 million), of which the parent company posted a loss of VND53 billion ($2.5 million).

Compared with last year's net profit of almost VND12.2 billion ($581,000) during the same period, this was a poor showing.

After the report, KBC share prices fell for two days in a row, starting at VND8,800 and tumbling yesterday to VND8,100 a share.

The company attributed the losses to economic difficulties, particularly the prolonged bear property market, which heavily affected its revenue as the cost of sales and lending was continuously rising.

At the end of March, KBC's sales cost was double what it was in the first quarter last year, reaching over VND2.9 billion ($140,000). Interest cost remained high at VND72.7 billion ($3.5 million).

Gross revenue was only VND38.8 billion ($1.8 million), significantly down from VND147.3 billion ($7 million) in the same period of last year.

The reduction was mainly due to lower incomes from land and infrastructure leasing, which totalled just VND30.4 billion ($1.5 million), down from VND136 billion.

In the first three months, the amount of cash also decreased 65.6 per cent to VND22 billion ($1.1 million) while the company's inventory rose slightly to more than VND7.05 trillion ($335.9 million).

Earning per share (EPS) fell to negative VND183 compared to VND64 in the same period of last year.

On April 2, KBC shares were given warning status on the HCM City Stock Exchange due to the company's 2012 loss of almost VND436 billion ($20.8 million).

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