SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) -Real estate agency PropNex on Wednesday (Aug 11) announced a net profit of $16.5 million for the second quarter ended June 30, more than doubling from the $7.3 million profit for the year-ago period.

This brought net profit for the first half to $31.3 million, up from $14.8 million a year ago.

The company has declared an interim dividend of 5.5 cents per share – the highest since its listing – to be paid out on Sept 3.

Revenue for the quarter jumped 147.2 per cent to $260.5 million, from $105.4 million a year ago, on the back of higher commission income from agency services and project marketing services.

PropNex said the strong growth was due to a higher number of transactions completed in the second quarter following improvements in both the Covid-19 situation and the economy.

Earnings per share (EPS) rose to 4.46 cents in the second quarter, up from 1.96 cents in the year-ago period.

This brings EPS for the first half of the year to 8.47 cents, more than doubling from 4.01 cents a year ago.

“The residential market has held up well amid the tighter safe management measures under the phase two (heightened alert) in May and June. Transaction volumes remained relatively healthy across all market segments, buoyed by optimism in the outlook for the Singapore economy and the relatively low interest rate environment,” said Mr Ismail Gafoor, PropNex’s co-founder, executive chairman and chief executive.

Shares of PropNex closed three cents, or 1.5 per cent, lower at $1.96 on Tuesday, before the results announcement.