Half-year financial statement on consolidated results for the six months ended 30 June 2000.
Half-year financial statement on consolidated results for the six months ended 30 June 2000.


These figures have not been audited.

Group
Company
.
S$'000
%
S$'000
%
..
2000
1999
Change
2000
1999
Change
1.(a)Turnover
44,087
34,902
26
16,028
31,672
(49)
1.(b)Investment income
0
0
0
0
0
0
1.(c)Other income including interest income
181
152
19
170
146
16
2.(a)Operating profit before income tax, minority interests, extraordinary items, interest on borrowings, depreciation and amortisation, foreign exchange gain/(loss) and exceptional items
8,322
5,040
65
2,850
4,847
(41)
2.(b)(i)Interest on borrowings
0
29
NM
0
0
0
2.(b)(ii)Depreciation and amortisation
485
253
92
221
142
56
2.(b)(iii)Foreign exchange gain/(loss)
(13)
121
NM
(64)
113
NM
2.(c)Exceptional items
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.(d)Operating profit before income tax, minority interests and extraordinary items but after interest on borrowings, depreciation and amortisation, foreign exchange gain/(loss) and exceptional items
7,824
4,879
60
2,565
4,818
(47)
.
Group
Company
-
S$'000
%
S$'000
%
..
2000
1999
Change
2000
1999
Change
2.(e)Income derived from associated companies
47
16
194
0
0
0
2.(f)Less income tax
1,731
1,049
65
703
902
(22)
2.(g)(i)Operating profit after tax before deducting minority interests
6,140
3,846
60
1,862
3,916
(52)
2.(g)(ii)Less minority interests
124
0
NM
0
0
0
2.(h)Operating profit after tax attributable to members of the company
6,016
3,846
56
1,862
3,916
(52)
2.(i)(i)Extraordinary items
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.(i)(ii)Less minority interests
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.(i)(iii)Extraordinary items attributable to members of the company
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.(i)(iv)Transfer to/from Exchange Reserve
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.(i)(v)Transfer to Capital Reserve
0
0
0
0
0
0
2.(i)(vi)Transfer to Reserve Fund
6,016
3,846
56
1,862
3,916
(52)
2.(j)Operating profit after tax and extraordinary items attributable to members of the company
6,016
3,846
56
1,862
3,916
(52)


NM - Not Meaningful
Group Figures
.
2000
1999
3.(a)Earnings per share based on 2(h) above after deducting any provision for preference dividends:-
.
.
3.(a)(i)Based on existing issued share capital
2.40 cents
1.65 cents
3.(a)(ii)On a fully diluted basis
2.34 cents
1.65 cents
3.(b)Earnings per share based on 2(j) above:-
(i) Based on existing issued share capital
2.40 cents
1.65 cents
(ii) On a fully diluted basis
2.34 cents
1.65 cents
3.(b)Net tangible asset backing per ordinary share
15.32 cents
13.19 cents



4.(a) Amount of any adjustment for under or overprovision of tax in respect of prior years
    NIL

4.(b) Amount of any pre-acquisition profits
    NIL


4.(c) Amount of profits on any sale of investments and/or properties

    Sale of investments/properties
    $Profit/(Loss)
    Nil







4.(d) Any other comments relating to Paragraph 4
    NIL

5.(a) Review of the performance of the company and its principal subsidiaries
    Revenue increased by 26% to S$44.1M compared with S$34.9M for fiscal 1999. Profit-before-tax rose 60% over the same period to S$7.8M.

    In the beginning of this year, the Group re-organized its activities into 3 strategic business units:

    a. Industrial Business Unit will be the Group's mainstay going forward, with particular vertical focus on implementing Information Technologies, automation and control and safety system solutions for the process industries. This business unit focuses on the hydrocarbon industries with plans to expand into other process-intensive sectors such as power, pulp & paper and pharmaceuticals. The geographical span of business is highly international, involving Asia, UK, the Middle East and the Americas. The business units have strengthened its business through the acquisitions of 100% of W-industries, Inc. in USA, in January 2000, 100% of Servelec Group Limited in UK in July 2000 and increased its ownership in PI-CSE Systems & Engineering (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd from 45% to 70% in June 2000.

    b. IT Consulting Unit focuses on the provision of information technologies solution to government as well as customized software solutions for the commercial sector. In July 2000, this business unit form a 50%/50% joint-venture, OneRex, with pFission Invesment Pte Ltd (a subsidiary of Pidemco Land) to provide the network infrastructure with broadband high-speed Internet access for condominiums.

    c. eBworx is formed around the Group's core expertise in the Semiconductor manufacturing industry. eBworx is a business integrator providing technology consulting and system integration services that enable its customer to use internet technology to improve their business. The business unit has expanded its scope into the financial industry through the acquisition of 55% of interest in Digital Nervous System Sdn Bhd in Malaysia in March 2000 and the balance of 45% in June 2000. It has also increased its ownership in Solution Exchange Inc. in the Philippines from 30% to 100% in June 2000. In the USA, it also acquired a 43% interest in InfiniteInfo Inc. in June 2000 which provides internet web site development, e-commerce, intranet and extranet.

    The Group's three divisions, Industrial Business, IT Consulting and eBworx contributed 62.5%, 27.9% and 9.6% to Group turnover and 65.9%, 25.7% and 8.4% to Group pre-tax profit respectively. The Group's overseas sales and pre-tax profits accounted for 62.1% and 74.0% respectively.

    The Industrial Business Unit showed 268% increase in both revenue and pre-tax profit to S$27.6M and S$5.2M. The increase was mainly due to the completion of acquisition of W-Industries, Inc and its contribution to the Group's results.

    The IT Consulting Unit showed a decline in both revenue and pre-tax profit in the first six months for fiscal 2000 to S$12.3M and S$2.0M respectively. The decline reflected the move away from cash flow intensive and low-margin yielding networking projects in favour of contracts that utilize the team technical competence. The lackluster performance of this unit affected the performance of the Company.

    eBworx showed a pre-tax profit of S$0.7M on a turnover of S$4.2M for first half 2000 compared to a pre-tax loss of S$0.6M on a turnover of S$1.7M for first half 1999. The significant improvement was due to the completion of acquisition of Digital Nervous System Sdn Bhd and Solutions Exchanges, Inc. and their contribution to the results as well as the contributions from projects from the semiconductor industry. In the beginning of this year, the Company transferred the Peoplesoft and SAP practices to eBworx.

    By Activities

    2000
    Industrial Business
    IT Consulting
    eBworx
    Consolidated
    Turnover (S$)
    27,565,541
    12,285,403
    4,235,865
    44,086,809
    Profit before tax (S$)
    5,186,191
    2,025,328
    659,744
    7,871,263
    Return on Sales (%)
    18.81
    16.49
    15.58
    17.85
    1999
    Industrial Business
    IT Consulting
    eBworx
    Consolidated
    Turnover (S$)
    7,497,785
    25,672,912
    1,731,727
    34,902,424
    Profit/(Loss) before tax (S$)
    1,407,916
    4,131,148
    (642,949)
    4,896,115
    Return on Sales (%)
    18.78
    16.09
    (37.13)
    14.03

    By Geographical Markets

    2000
    Singapore
    Others
    Consolidated Total
    Turnover (S$)
    16,704,766
    27,382,043
    44,086,809
    Profit before tax (S$)
    2,045,295
    5,825,968
    7,871,263
    Return on Sales (%)
    12.24
    21.28
    17.85
    1999
    Singapore
    Others
    Consolidated Total
    Turnover (S$)
    29,558,353
    5,344,071
    34,902,424
    Profit before tax (S$)
    4,048,649
    847,466
    4,896,115
    Return on Sales (%)
    13.70
    15.86
    14.03


5.(b) A statement by the Directors of the Company on whether "any item or event of a material
    or unusual nature which would have affected materially the results of operations of the
    Group and Company has occurred between the date to which the report refers and the
    date on which the report is issued". If none, to include a negative statement.
    In the opinion of the Directors, no item, transaction or event of a material and unusual nature has arisen for the year from 30 June 2000 to the date of this report which will affect substantially the results of the operations of the Company and/or the Group for the period in respect of which this report is made.

6. Commentary on current year prospects
    Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Directors anticipate the Group's profits of the second half of the year to improve with the completion of the acquisition of Servelec Group Limited in July and its contribution to the Group's results from then on.


7. Dividend
    (a) Any dividend declared for the present financial period? None
    (b) Any dividend declared for the previous corresponding period? None

(c) Date payable
      NIL



(d) Books closing date
      Nil



(e) Any other comments relating to Paragraph 7
      NIL




8. Details of any changes in the company's issued share capital
    During the period, the Company issued 18,000,000 ordinary shares of S$0.05 each for S$1.53 per share for cash pursuant to a private placement being additional listing in the SGX-SESDAQ. The placement price of S$1.53 for each placement share represented a discount of approximately 10% to the weighted average share price of trades done on the SGX-SESDAQ on 17 January 2000.

    On 28 April 2000, the Board of Directors announced that the Company had proposed to issue 5,843,532 ordinary shares of S$0.05 each at S$1.1419 each as partial settlement for the consideration for the acquisition of Servelec Group Limited. The issue price of S$1.1419 each represented a 5% discount to the average last trade price for the five trading days ending 27 April 2000 of S$1.2020 and the issued shares will have a one-year sales moratorium.

    During the period, the Company issued 500,000 ordinary shares of S$0.05 each for $0.16 per share for cash pursuant to a service agreement.

    As at 30 June 2000, there were unexercised options for 10,061,000 unissued ordinary shares of S$0.05 each.

9. Comparative figures of the group's borrowings and debt securities

(a) Amount repayable in one year or less, or on demand
      As at 30/6/2000
      As at 31/12/1999
      Secured
      Unsecured
      Secured
      Unsecured
      0
      0
      0
      0


(b) Amount repayable after one year
      As at 30/6/2000
      As at 31/12/1999
      Secured
      Unsecured
      Secured
      Unsecured
      0
      0
      0
      0


(c) Any other comments relating to Paragraph 9

      NIL

10. Balance sheet
    Nil




BY ORDER OF THE BOARD

Tan San-Ju
Company Secretary
17/8/2000