CONSTRUCTION company Yau Lee Holdings has announced 53.6 per cent drop in net profit to $5.84 million for the year ended March 31.
Earnings per share tumbled 83 per cent to 0.7 cents.
Company chairman Wong Ip Kuen blamed the profit fall on stiff competition among building contractors in Hong Kong.
''Contractors vigorously competed for works during a period when the availability of such opportunities remained constrained pending discussions on the new airport.
''With keen competition continuing, the profit margins of construction projects were under severe pressure and profitability was unavoidably affected.'' Noting the outlook for next year was better, Mr Wong said there were encouraging signs the building construction sector would recover and looked forward to a new boom.
The increase in sandwich-class housing and more hospital projects should help boost earnings, Mr Wong said.
