SINGAPORE (Apr 30): Rowsley, the provider of architectural, civil and structural engineering services, said 1Q earnings rose 70% to $3.1 million from $1.8 million in the same quarter last year.

Group revenue, however, dropped 25% to $16.3 million from a year ago, mainly due to a decline in contribution from architectural services of about $7.4 million.

This was however partially offset by higher revenue from civil and structural engineering services of $1.3 million and master planning services of $0.7 million.

Other income more than doubled to $7.7 million from $3.6 million after fair value adjustment of $4.1 million from the re-measurement of shares to be paid to the RSP vendors.

Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation totalled $4.3 million in 1Q, 27% down from $5.8 million previously.

As at end March, the group’s cash and cash equivalents amounted to $130.7 million, up 428% from $24.7 million in the previous year.

Rowsley Chief Executive Officer Lock Wai Han said: “Our first quarter results were slightly dampened by the decline in contribution from architectural services relative to the same quarter last year, which saw more projects reaching major milestones. We are confident, however, that RSP will continue to do well given the strong pipeline of projects this year in Singapore and the region.”

On April 3, Rowsley had announced the termination of the proposal to invest US$275 million for a 50% stake in a company that wholly owns HAGL Myanmar Centre, one of Yangon’s largest integrated projects, due to disagreement over the detailed deal structure.

Rowsley closed 0.1 cent higher at 19 cents today.