EAC interim earnings dive 75pc

EAST Asiatic Co (EAC), with services ranging from freight to marketing, has reported interim net profits of $4 million, down by more than 75 per cent on the same period last year.

Turnover dropped from $628.7 million to $499.7 million, a drop of 20.5 per cent.

The company didn't declare a dividend in view of the results and because of the July 1 acquisition of Modern Printing Equipment.

Earnings per share were one cent from 4.2 cents a year ago.

EAC blamed tight control on expansion of the Chinese economy for the poor figures.

While the activity and interest level of the company's customers remained high, actual transactions only materialised to a limited extent, said company secretary Thomas Y K Poon.