Ho Bee Land
Mainboard-listed property group Ho Bee Land's wholly owned unit, Grandiose Investments, has sold Rose Court in Southwark, London, to an unrelated Guernsey property unit trust for £94.5 million (S$167.4 million).
Rose Court was bought as an office property investment for £67.2 million in June 2013.
The building comprises 157,144 sq ft of office and ancillary accommodation arranged over lower ground, ground and nine upper floors.
The property is let to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government until September 2018 at an annual rental of £4.346 million.
The group intends to use the sale proceeds to reduce its borrowing and provide additional working capital for its businesses.
Vicom
Vicom's net profit fell 10.4 per cent to $28.2 million as revenue slid 5.2 per cent to $101.2 million for the year ended Dec 31.
The company said business conditions are expected to remain difficult for both the vehicle- and non-vehicle-testing businesses.
The vehicle-testing business will continue to face challenges posed by the high deregistration rate although this will be offset partially by an increase in the number of certificate of entitlement (COE) revalidations.
The non-vehicle testing business will continue to weaken with the general slowdown in the industries that the company serves, it said.
Earnings per share was 31.77 cents, down from 35.45 cents the previous year. The group's net asset value per share was 169.05 cents as at Dec 31, up from 165.03 cents a year earlier.
The company has recommended a final and special dividend of 8.5 cents and 10 cents respectively, down from 9.5 cents and 10.25 cents respectively, for 2015.
GP Batteries International
Battery-maker GP Batteries International has posted a third-quarter net profit of $3.67 million, a more than fivefold rise from $651,000 in the same period a year earlier.
Revenue for the three months ended Dec 31 rose 1.9 per cent to $196.7 million. The company said global demand for primary batteries and nickel-metal hydride batteries was slow and price competition, keen.
Earnings per share for the quarter was 2.32 cents, up from 0.41 cent a year earlier.
Net asset value per share was $1.47 as at Dec 31, the same as on March 31 last year.
