Sembcorp Industries

Sembcorp Industries yesterday posted a 21 per cent rise in net profit for its fiscal first quarter, on the back of improved performance from its energy business.

For the three months ended March 31, net profit came in at $93 million, up from $77 million last year.

The results translate into an earnings per share (EPS) of 4.68 cents, versus an EPS of 3.64 cents for the year-ago quarter.

No interim dividend has been declared for the first quarter of this year, as it is the company's practice to consider declaring dividends on a bi-annual basis, Sembcorp Industries said.

Meanwhile, revenue fell 10 per cent to $2.48 billion from $2.76 billion previously, as turnover from its marine business tumbled 31 per cent to $811 million.

This was mainly due to lower revenue recognition from the group's rigs and floaters and offshore platform projects.

The group expects its energy business to consolidate and deliver a steady performance this year.

BoardRoom

G K Goh Holdings has made a voluntary unconditional cash offer for BoardRoom, the mainboard-listed corporate secretarial services firm, in a bid to delist it.

It is offering 88 cents in cash for each BoardRoom share, in a deal that values the company at $184.5 million.

At 88 cents, the offer price is a premium of 14.3 per cent to the last transacted price of 77 cents a share on May 3. The offer price is also an 18.4 per cent premium over BoardRoom's volume-weighted average price for the one month leading up to May 3.

The offeror is Salacca, a wholly owned unit of G K Goh, which currently controls 80.72 per cent of BoardRoom. Salacca does not intend to increase the offer price, it said in a filing yesterday.

The offer is unconditional, and in the event that BoardRoom's free float falls below 10 per cent, Salacca plans to delist the stock, it said.

As of March 8, 11.46 per cent of BoardRoom's shares were held by members of the public.

If Salacca gets valid acceptances that put it in control of no less than 90 per cent of all BoardRoom shares at the close of the offer, it will exercise its right to compulsorily acquire the rest of the shares, and proceed to delist the company, it said.

A privatisation will enable G K Goh to exercise greater control and management flexibility over BoardRoom, financial adviser CIMB said.

G K Goh is a mainboard-listed investment holding firm which has businesses in aged care and corporate services.