According to the Zhitong Finance App, Times Group Holdings (01023) announced that the profit attributable to company owners for the six months ending December 31, 2023 is expected to be drastically reduced by about 45% to 55% compared to the profit attributable to company owners of HK$106 million for the same period in 2022. This is mainly due to: global inflationary pressure and geographical tension bring uncertainty to the global economy and affect the Group's manufacturing business; and foreign exchange losses are expected for the six months ending December 31, 2023, and foreign exchange earnings of about HK$22.376 million were confirmed in the same period in 2022.
The revenue of the manufacturing business segment for the six months ended 31 December 2023 is expected to decrease significantly from the segment revenue of approximately HK$717 million for the same period in 2022. Compared with the partial profit before tax of approximately HK$108 million for the same period in 2022, it is expected that the pre-tax profit for the six months ended 31 December 2023 will decrease. Due to the uncertain global economy, customers were more cautious when placing orders, but the gross margin of the manufacturing business segment remained stable.
Segment revenue and pre-tax segment profit for the six months ended 31 December 2023 are expected to increase from segment revenue of approximately HK$233 million and segment profit before tax of approximately HK$10.03 million for the same period in 2022. This is mainly because the energy and resources invested in e-commerce channels have achieved desired results and impressive returns.
The earnings of the Property Investment Division for the six months ended 31 December 2023 are expected to decrease from the segment revenue of approximately HK$7.045 million for the same period in 2022. However, compared with the pre-tax segment loss of approximately HK$3,096 million in the same period in 2022, it is expected that the pre-tax segment profit will be achieved for the six months ending 31 December 2023. This is mainly due to the fact that it is expected that the investment property will have less fair value loss in the six months ending December 31, 2023.
Furthermore, despite a decrease in profit expectations attributable to company owners for the six months ending December 31, 2023, the Board of Directors hereby informs shareholders that the company's dividend policy remains unchanged.