First Ship Lease Trust

First Ship Lease Trust, which provides ship leasing services, reported a net profit of US$3.45 million (S$4.8 million) in the first quarter, up 51.9 per cent from a year earlier.

Earnings grew despite a 17.7 per cent drop in revenue to US$21.9 million, due to dry docking of two crude oil tankers and the lower market rates in the quarter, it said yesterday.

Mr Roger Woods, who was appointed as the trust manager's chief executive yesterday, said: "Although shipping markets across all sectors will remain under pressure in the near term, our careful management of the charter book continues to provide some insulation for the trust from current market volatility."

Fuxing China Group

Fuxing China Group reported a smaller loss of 4.81 million yuan (S$974,000) in the first quarter, compared with its 8.03 million yuan deficit a year earlier.

This came on the back of a 20 per cent revenue growth to 223.13 million yuan in the three months to March 31, the zipper product firm said yesterday.

Zipper turnover of 86.36 million was 10 per cent higher year on year, while trading income, from sourcing and buying of raw materials, grew 27 per cent to 125.36 million yuan in the period.

"The group continues to operate under a highly competitive environment... with razor-thin profit margins," Fuxing cautioned.

Loss per share was three fen, compared with the five-fen loss a year ago. Net asset value per share was 36.8 yuan as of March 31, compared with 37.1 yuan at the end of last year.

Mm2 Asia

Entertainment firm mm2 has signed a memorandum of understanding to invest about HK$4 million (S$720,000) in Cinema Pro, a cinema management company in Hong Kong.

The investment for a 19.68 per cent stake contains a profit guarantee and buy-back guarantee from Cinema Pro and its majority owner Kbro Media.