Hyflux profit increases almost five-fold following asset sales

Hyflux, Singapore’s largest publicly traded water company, reported first-quarter profit increased almost five-fold to $37.9 million from $8 million a year ago following asset disposals.

Without one-time gains of $56.9 million that included divestments of stakes in two units to Marmon Water Singapore Pte, revenue was 29% lower than the year-earlier period, Hyflux said today in a statement to the Singapore exchange.

Hyflux expects 2014 to be slow due to timing of project startups and a delay by the national power grid to connect to its Tuaspring desalination plant in Singapore, Asia’s biggest seawater reverse-osmosis desalination plant, it said.

Earlier this year, Hyflux set up a venture to explore water-treatment plants in Nigeria and agreed to a deal with Murray & Roberts Holdings, South Africa’s largest construction company by market value, to seek water projects in sub-Saharan Africa. The stock has gained 2.1% this year.