Haeco revenue soars but profit drops

Hong Kong Aircraft Engineering Company (Haeco) net profit dropped 21 per cent in the first half of this year even though revenue rose 66 per cent.

The aircraft maintenance company controlled by Swire Group recorded a net profit of HK$283 million in the first half, from HK$239 million in the same period last year. Revenue rose to HK$5.3 billion with its acquisition of US service provider Timco earlier this year, now known as Haeco USA.

The company declared an interim dividend of HK$0.65.

Earnings per share now stand at HK$1.7, compared with HK$2.16 last year.

Haeco’s Hong Kong operation contributed HK$1.6 billion of revenue, a drop of 1.1 per cent from a year before, making it the only segment within the group with declining revenue.

Airframe maintenance, the company’s core business, “continued to be adversely affected by capacity constraints caused by the lead time to train new staff”, it said in the announcement.