ST Engineering 2002 net profit down 3%

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd, South-East Asia’s largest defence contractor, posted yesterday its first drop in annual profit since 1997 on weakness in its aerospace and marine divisions, and warned of similar earnings next year. 

For the year ended Dec 31, 2002, the company's net profit fell 3.4% from a year earlier to S$330.71mil, hit by a S$21.43mil restructuring charge, a 13% plunge in earnings at its aerospace division and a 22% drop in earnings at its marine services unit. The overall profit figure was largely in line with forecasts of industry analysts.