Figtree wins $43.5 mil contract to design and build food processing facility

SINGAPORE (Aug 19): Real estate solutions provider Figtree Holdings has won a $43.5 million contract to design and build a food processing facility at Chin Bee Avenue in Singapore.

The contract was secured by wholly-owned subsidiary Figtree Projects from OJJ Foods, one of the largest processors and distributors of chilled and frozen pork in Singapore.

The facility will be a general food processing centre with a gross floor area of 18,000 sqm.

The six-storey factory will include a fully automated refrigerated warehouse, chiller and freezer cold rooms, a central kitchen, as well as other production and ancillary offices.

Construction of the facility is expected to commence in 4Q19 and be completed in 3Q21.

Catalist-listed Figtree says the contract will contribute to the revenue of the group, but is not expected to have a material impact on its earnings per share and net asset value per share for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2019.

For the 1H19 ended June, Figtree reversed out of the red with earnings of $2.3 million, compared with a net loss of $2.9 million in the corresponding half-year period last year.

This was mainly due to a one-off increase of $5 million in other income, mainly due to the completion of the sale of its development project, 303 La Trobe, located in Melbourne, Australia.

1H19 gross profit fell 64.7% to $0.1 million, despite a seven-fold surge in revenue to $4.8 million.

This was due to cost of sales rising fifteen-fold to $4.6 million in 1H19, outpacing the increase in revenue.

Shares in Figtree jumped 10.3% to close 1.1 cents higher at 11.8 cents on Monday.