Stock Earnings: HTL Int

HTL International Holdings Ltd said its net profit for the first quarter to March rose 10.6 pct year-on-year to 11.83 mln sgd on the back of strong revenue from its sofa business unit. Sales rose 26.9 pct year-on-year to 158.53 mln sgd during the period. HTL said its sofa business contributed 131 mln sgd in the first quarter of this year, compared to 103.6 mln sgd in the first three months of last year. The company said its US and Canada business continued to grow strongly, while Europe, its largest market, contributed 74.7 mln sgd to revenue. "Amidst growing competition, HTL has been able to maintain its momentum to achieve double-digit growth in sales and net profit for first quarter 2006. We remain cautiously optimistic on our prospects for the rest of the year," HTL group managing director Phua Yong Tat said in a statement.

Leather sofa maker HTL International first quarter to March results:
Sales - 158.53 mln sgd vs 124.91 mln
Pretax profit - 13.67 mln sgd vs 11.86 mln
Net profit - 11.83 mln sgd vs 10.70 mln
EPS - 3.54 cents vs 3.21