Q&M Dental first-half revenue slumps 14%, Aoxin Q&M's loss widens

Q&M Dental Group (Singapore) saw its net profit inch down by 2 per cent to S$8.1 million for the six months ended June 30, 2020, from S$8.3 million a year ago.

Earnings per share stood at 1.03 Singapore cents for the first half, down from 1.06 cents a year ago, the mainboard-listed company said in results released on Thursday evening.

Total revenue fell by 14 per cent to nearly S$53 million, from S$61.6 million in the corresponding period last year.

This was mainly due to Singapore's "circuit breaker" during the April-June period, as there were restrictions on the types of dental services that could be performed at dental outlets in the country. Revenue generated by Q&M's Singapore dental outlets in April and May dropped 63 per cent year on year.

In Malaysia, the group's dental outlets were only allowed to provide non-elective, urgent and emergency dental services from March 18 to June 9. This led to a 28 per cent year-on-year decrease in revenue generated by the dental outlets there for April and May.

Q&M noted that in June, its dental outlet revenue from Singapore and Malaysia saw a recovery.

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An interim dividend of 0.4 cent per share was declared, unchanged from a year ago. It will be paid on Sept 14, after books closure on Aug 31.

In China, Q&M's associated companies likewise saw disruptions in their operations due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Catalist-listed Aoxin Q&M Dental Group - in which Q&M has a 42.8 per cent stake - sank deeper into the red for the first half of this year. Its net loss widened to 10.5 million yuan (S$2.1 million) for the six months, from a net loss of about six million yuan in H1 2019.

Total revenue shrank 26 per cent on the year to 47.7 million yuan, from 64.9 million yuan previously, dragged by the suspension of non-essential dental services in February and March at all 17 of its dental centres in China, Aoxin Q&M said in results released separately on Thursday night.

Loss per share amounted to 2.74 yuan for H1 2020, compared with a loss per share of 1.56 yuan in the corresponding period last year.

No dividend was declared, the same as the year-ago period, as Aoxin Q&M said it wishes to conserve cash for working capital needs.

Shares of Q&M rose 0.5 Singapore cent or 1.1 per cent to trade at 47 cents as at 9.53am on Friday, while Aoxin Q&M shares last traded at S$0.13 on July 8.