Vicom
Vehicle inspection group Vicom yesterday posted a third-quarter net profit of $6.7 million, up 5.1 per cent from the same period a year earlier, on higher business volumes.
Revenue in the three months ended Sept 30 rose 2.7 per cent to $25.2 million. Earnings per share were 7.58 cents, up from 7.21 cents in the year-ago period. Net asset value per share was 153.56 cents as of Sept 30, from 167.34 cents as of Dec 31 last year.
Vicom, owned by transport giant ComfortDelGro, said in its outlook statement: "The Land Transport Authority recently announced that there will be more certificates of entitlement (COEs) for the three-month quota period starting from November 2018, compared with the preceding quota period, due to premature scrapping of cars bought when COE prices were high.
"This is expected to further dampen COE prices leading to more deregistration, thereby reducing the demand for the vehicle-testing business. For the non-vehicle-testing business, there are signs of recovery in some industries that we serve, but competition remains intense. Demand is expected to remain stable."
Vicom shares rose three cents to close at $6.02 yesterday, before the results were announced after market close.
M Development
Investment holding firm M Development yesterday said it had been successful in its lawsuit against its subsidiary, Winsta Holding.
In a judgment by the High Court dated Nov 5, former director of M Development Sim Pei Yee, along with her family members Sim Poh Ping and Sim Pei San, are liable for breaches of fiduciary duties arising from their involvement or interests in entities such as Overseas Students Placement Centre, Atas Residence, Uni-house, Unihouse @ Evans, ICS Catering, Jiu Mao Jiu Hotpot and I-Masters Air-Conditional.
The court also found that three others - Mr Kong Weija, Mr Tan Choon Leong and Ms Connie Ng - had dishonestly assisted the Sim family in its breaches of duties. The court ordered that the Sim family, Mr Kong and Overseas Students Placement Centre be liable to the company for $930,872.55.
The Sim family, Mr Kong and Atas Residence are liable to the company for $463,460.40; and all the other defendants are liable to the company for $10,000.
M Development will be entitled to claim $445,641.70 in costs for its forensic expert.
The court will hear the parties on costs at a later date.
