During the year under review, the worldwide economy faced many uncertainties, mainly attributed to ongoing wars, trade conflicts among major economies, and unpredictable weather calamities. All these factors adversely affected economies and business prospects across the world, including Singapore.

Like many other countries, Singapore had been cautiously optimistic in the current environment and managed to grow its economy by 4.4 per cent in 2024, according to the Ministry of Trade and Industry's (MTI) announcement on 14 February 2025. This increase was faster than the 1.8 per cent expansion in 2023. For the construction sector, it expanded by 4.5 per cent, extending the 5.8 per cent expansion in 2023. The better economic performance enhanced the prospects of the Singapore construction industry.

In the midst of challenges in a tough business environment impacting the construction industry, including manpower restrictions and rising business costs, OKP Holdings Limited (OKP) stays committed to attain its vision. Our vision is for the Group to be a leading transport infrastructure and civil engineering company in Singapore, the region and beyond.

To stay competitive, we embrace change by devising strategies that will sustain our organisation well. While focusing on our key expertise in transport infrastructure and civil engineering, we diversified into property development and other investments in Singapore and overseas.

Our strategy remains the same - to be laser-focused on key expertise in transport infrastructure and civil engineering, while venturing into new overseas business opportunities and diversifying earnings through property developments and other investments.

As a forward-looking and adaptable company, OKP establishes strategic joint ventures to develop properties, tender for complex projects, and purchase investment properties in Singapore and overseas. The Group and two other joint venture partners successfully developed the 84-unit condominium, The Essence, at Chong Kuo Road and 74-unit condominium, Phoenix Residences and it received its temporary occupation permit (TOP) on 3 January 2025, in Singapore. As part of its strategy to explore overseas business opportunities and diversify earnings, our organisation together with a joint venture partner, acquired our first overseas property in Perth, Australia in April 2018.

Since our founding, our organisation has grown sizably, with staff strength growing from 10 staff in 1967 to 409 in 2002 and 960 as at 31 December 2024.

Through the many years of overcoming the ups and downs of the business cycle, we have grown to become a wellrecognised business in the transport infrastructure and civil engineering industry in Singapore and the region. We continue to be motivated by our mission - to be the first and preferred civil engineering contractor for the various industries, here and overseas. We are of the view that our reputation has grown due to our solid track record, wide expertise, effective management team, and professional and able workforce in civil engineering projects.

REVIEWING OUR PERFORMANCE

The Group is pleased to report a $21.4 million increase in revenue to $181.8 million during the financial year ended 31 December 2024 (FY2024). This was a rise of 13.3 per cent compared to $160.4 million during the preceding financial year ended 31 December 2023 (FY2023).

The increase was primarily due to a 11.3 per cent rise in revenue from the construction segment to $114.0 million, alongside a 19.6 per cent increase in revenue from the maintenance segment to $61.7 million. However, there was a slight drop of 5.0 per cent in rental income.

Both the construction and maintenance segments showed good revenue growth in FY2024 as compared to FY2023. The positive revenue growth was mainly attributed to a higher percentage of revenue recognised from various ongoing and newly awarded construction and maintenance projects as they progressed to a more active phase in FY2024.

The decrease in rental income was mainly from the drop in rental income from the property located at 6-8 Bennett Street, East Perth, Western Australia as a tenant had vacated some units during the second half of FY2024. Rental income from OKP's investment properties at 35 Kreta Ayer Road and 69 and 71 Kampong Bahru Road held steady as recurring income.

The main contributor to our organisation's revenue continued to be the construction segment. Gross profit increased by 135.4 per cent or $33.5 million to $58.2 million in FY2024 compared to $24.7 million a year ago.

The construction and maintenance segments showed a significant $33.6 million increase in gross profit, rising to $54.3 million, compared to $20.7 million in FY2023. This improvement was mainly because of our organisation's ongoing initiatives to improve productivity, efficiency and cost management, despite the challenges posed by higher material costs and increasing manpower costs. However, the rental income segment revealed a marginal decrease in gross profit contribution from $4.0 million in FY2023 to $3.9 million in FY2024.

The Group's balance sheet stayed healthy. With a sound cash position of $130.8 million as at 31 December 2024, net tangible assets amounted to $201.4 million compared to $167.8 million a year ago. This was equivalent to net tangible assets per share of 65.60 Singapore cents, compared to 54.66 Singapore cents per share in the previous year.

To reward shareholders for their support, the Board has proposed a final dividend of 2.5 Singapore cents, consisting of final dividend of 1.0 Singapore cent per share and special dividend of 1.5 Singapore cents per share. The proposed total dividend represents a dividend yield of 7.7 per cent, based on OKP's closing share price of 0.325 Singapore cents on 31 December 2024.

Chairman

MOVING AHEAD STEADILY

Our immense efforts and extensive skillsets have been acknowledged widely in the industry as we have won numerous awards for our work through the decades.

In 2024, we won five projects - two construction projects and three maintenance projects, amounting to a total of approximately $257.2 million. During the year under review, the Group completed one construction project. We continued to execute 12 ongoing construction projects and eight ongoing maintenance projects, including the five newly secured contracts.

As at 31 December 2024, our net order book remains strong at $600.7 million with projects extending till 2027.

ON TRACK FOR GROWTH

The Singapore construction industry is staying upbeat with a positive outlook as announced by the Building and Construction (BCA) on 23 January 2025. It projected that the total construction demand in 2025 will range between $47 billion and $53 billion, higher than the $44.2 billion the year before. The affirmative outlook enhances the prospects for transport infrastructure and civil engineering companies such as OKP.

The Group will continue to focus on our core business in the civil engineering business, where we have a sound track record and vast expertise as the preferred civil engineering contractor for various industries. However, we are also realistic and expect the operating landscape in the construction industry to remain unpredictable, driven by rising costs for manpower, building materials, electricity, and financing.

To address these issues, our organisation will stay vigilant in navigating difficult market conditions, continue to ensure efficient cashflow management and remain prudent with our capital structure and finances. We will continue to improve our productivity by integrating technology and innovations into our business processes to lessen reliance on manpower and upgrade our workforce.

In the case of the property market, the Urban Redevelopment Authority's 4th Quarter 2024 real estate statistics, announced on 24 January 2025, that the pace of increase in the private residential price index has slowed to 3.9 per cent in 2024. This was a drop compared to 6.8 per cent in the previous year. The property market received an uplift when the Government decided to increase the overall housing supply to 8,505 units in first half of 2025. The Group will keep a close watch for possible development prospects though global tensions may affect the economic and political climate.

Meanwhile, the Perth office market has shown resilience. According to Property Council of Australia's Office Market Report, which was released on 6 February 2025, office vacancy rate in Australia's central business district rose slightly. However, in Perth, office vacancy decreased from 15.5 per cent to 15.1 per cent, reflecting an improvement. Despite the fluctuations, the demand for office space is still positive.

In the midst of global challenges, our organisation remains committed to building a sustainable and robust business, leveraging on its extensive experience as a contractor, especially for public sector projects. Moving steadily ahead of the competition and to grow its business, OKP has been widening its expertise and strengthening its abilities by venturing into property development and property investment.

Together with its joint venture partners, OKP has successfully developed two residential projects. The Essence, an 84-unit condominium at Chong Kuo Road, received its temporary occupation permit (TOP) on 9 June 2023, while Phoenix Residences, a 74-unit condominium, was granted its TOP on 3 January 2025.

Over the years, OKP has been investing in several properties locally and overseas. In Singapore, we own a portfolio of investment properties, comprising three shophouses, two office units and a factory. We also expanded overseas by purchasing a freehold office complex property in Western Australia in April 2018, together with one of our joint venture partners. These properties have provided OKP with a regular stream of recurring rental income.

Backed by a decades-long track record and industry expertise, OKP will continue to boost its abilities to secure contracts from both the public and private construction sectors. We will also explore new businesses through acquisitions, joint ventures and/or strategic alliances that could complement our construction and maintenance business. These will enable us to move into new markets and engage new clients.

EMBRACING SUSTAINABILITY, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION

Our organisation seriously considers sustainability issues in setting up our strategies. We believe that sustainability means operating our business in a way that is not only profitable but also makes a positive impact on our stakeholders and the environment. We believe this strategy leads to greater effectiveness and improved business performance.

As one of our goals, our organisation is actively promoting sustainability, technology and innovation. To improve our business and operations, we invest in and adopt cuttingedge technologies and innovative methods.

For example, we adopt artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning to improve our operational effectiveness, safety and project execution, enabling predictive maintenance, automation, and real-time analysis to maximise workflows and reduce risks. We use smart automation as AI-driven machinery reduces manual labour, minimising human errors and injuries. Our AI vision system on excavators provides 360-degree surveillance, eliminating the need for manual signalling, thus improving productivity and on-site safety.

In 2024, the Group further improved its current smart earth control measures system by introducing sensor and other digital features in collaboration with the Land Transport Authority and National University of Singapore. New features included an auto chemical discharge feature and auto shutdown feature, and more layers of control to prevent silty discharge into public drains, thus ensuring compliance with environmental standards.

We also partnered with Hubble Build to implement a comprehensive e-SHEMS (electronic Safety and Health Environmental Management System) in early 2024. By integrating cutting-edge technology with our operations, this system enables real-time monitoring of safety data, which allows for the swift identification and resolution of high-risk activities. We also transited to the innovative e-Workforce system. Developed in collaboration with Hubble Build, the e-Workforce system automates the recording of workers' attendance and overtime. This advance solution eliminates the inefficiencies and errors commonly associated with manual data input, enhancing accuracy and productivity across workforce management.

Other innovative and environmentally sustainable practices included using solar panels at our work sites to minimise carbon emission, and carbon mineralised concrete to reduce embodied carbon for our projects. We also utilise wet bulb globe temperature monitoring system to take real-time temperature changes on an hourly basis and motorised noise barriers.

Chairman

A NOTE OF APPRECIATION

On behalf of the Board, I would like to say how grateful I am for the continuing staunch backing of our shareholders, clients, business associates and suppliers through the years. I would like to express my heartfelt appreciation and applaud the management team for their efficient leadership and great teamwork. As we move forward together, I am sure that each of you will give your dedication and hard work towards building a resilient yet forward-looking organisation which we will be proud of.

It is my privilege to welcome two new members to the Board. They are Mr Choy Wei Hsien Mark as our Lead Independent Director and Mr Tay Peng Huat as our Independent Director, both of whom were appointed on 23 April 2024. Their extensive experience and knowledge in advising and sitting on the boards of listed and private companies in Singapore will be an invaluable asset to our Group.

My sincere thanks also go to all Board members for their wise counsel and perceptive insights through the decades. To all stakeholders, I appreciate your steadfast and unwavering support.

We believe that we are moving ahead steadily to achieving our vision to be one of the leading transport infrastructure and civil engineering companies in Singapore and the region today and in the future. We are on track to grow OKP towards an even brighter tomorrow.

Chairman

Or Kim Peow
Group Chairman