Public-listed special economic zone (SEZ) developer Phnom Penh SEZ Plc (PPSP) has reported a sharp increase in total revenue and lower net loss in the first quarter of 2022, a filing with Cambodia Securities Exchange (CSX) showed.
PPSP non-executive chairman Kith Meng said on May 20 that total revenue surged 153 per cent year-on-year to 18.06 billion riel ($4.446 million) from 7.14 billion riel last year.
Net loss narrowed to 2.76 billion riel in the first quarter this year compared to 3.73 billion riel in the corresponding period in 2021.
“The financial position of the company remains strong as at March 31, 2022 with total assets amounting to 427.37 billion riel – about $105 million. It consists of non-current assets worth 170.86 billion riel – $42 million – and current assets of 256.51 billion riel – about $63 million,” Meng said.
Total equity, which amounted to 242.16 billion riel dipped 2.36 per cent from 248 billion riel as of December 31, 2021.
As a result, the debt-to-equity ratio stood at 0.76 times in the first quarter of 2022 compared to 0.72 times in 2021, according to Meng.
“In the first quarter, our business operations were profitable while land revenue and rental income was 2.53 billion riel – $621,982 – [versus] 2.13 billion riel – $523,087 – in the first quarter of 2021,” said PPSP in a statement.
The rental income is accounted for on a “straight line basis” over the lease term of an ongoing lease.
“The aggregated cost of incentives provided to the lessee is recognised as reduction of rental income over the lease term on a straight line basis,” it said.
“We are starting to recognise revenue from construction business. Due to our strategic direction, we aim to expand our construction service to serve our tenants and also customers outside,” it added.
Market observers are bullish on the company’s future after Inter Logistics (Cambodia) Co Ltd, a member of the Royal Group of Companies Ltd, announced last December that it had acquired 45.09 per cent of total PPSP shares.
In doing so, Inter Logistics became the industrial zone operator’s largest shareholder, inadvertently pushing PPSP shares up 4.5 per cent.
For the financial year ended December 31, 2021, PPSP’s net profit grew 74.53 per cent to 7.79 billion riel on the back of 117.767 billion riel revenue, up 80.66 per cent from 2020.
As of December 31, 2021, total assets rose 10.98 per cent to 426.234 billion riel while total equity climbed 2.07 per cent to 248.003 billion riel from a year ago.
PPSP is behind the recently renamed 357.3ha industrial zone located in Kambol district’s Kantaok commune on the outskirts of the capital, and became the fourth publicly-listed company on May 30, 2016.
The economic zone houses manufacturers from Japan, China, Singapore, the US, Malaysia, the Netherlands and Australia which are involved in automobile parts, garments, food and beverage, plastic products, electronic products and jewellery.
