ENGINEERING and technology group Boustead Singapore on Monday said fourth quarter net profit fell 8 per cent to $25.5 million.

The bottom line was dragged down by lower income from its water and wastewater engineering, real estate solutions and geo-spatial technology divisions.

Revenue in the three months to March 31 slipped 3 per cent to $142 million.

Boustead provides infrastructure-related engineering services and geo-spatial technology.

It said in its results announcement that its revenue is derived largely from project-oriented businesses.

"As such, quarterly results would not accurately reflect the full-year's performance," the company said. "Full-year to full-year comparisons are more appropriate for analytical purposes."

Full-year net profit fell 13 per cent to $70.7 million, Boustead said in its announcement.

Revenue for the 12 months to March 31 was $513.7 million, flat from the $513.2 million a year earlier.

The fall in full-year profit was due almost entirely to the difference in the value of one-off, non-recurring items between the two years.

Total non-recurring items in the latest financial year amounted to $10.8 million, compared with $24.6 million a year earlier.

After adjusting for this difference, net profit for the latest financial year would have been 6 per cent higher, Boustead said.

Full-year earnings per share were 13.9 cents, down from 16.2 cents a year earlier. Net asset value per share was 68.4 cents at March 31, up from 60 cents a year earlier.

The company proposed a final dividend of three cents per share and a special dividend of two cents per share.

Together with the interim dividend of two cents per share paid out earlier, the total dividend is seven cents per share for the financial year, unchanged from last year.