By Anthony O. Goriainoff


Jardine Matheson Holdings Ltd. said Thursday that it swung to a 2021 net profit on higher revenue, and that the performance of its Hong Kong operations will depend on the effect of the pandemic on its businesses there.

The Asian conglomerate said that net profit was $1.88 billion compared with a net loss of $394 million the year prior.

The company said that its underlying net profit--a key metric that strips out exceptional and other one-off items--rose 39% to $1.51 billion. The company said this was mostly driven by a stronger contribution from its Indonesian conglomerate Astra and the recovery in Mandarin Oriental's performance.

Pretax profit was $3.91 billion compared with a pretax loss of $678 million in 2020.

Revenue rose to $35.86 billion from $32.65 billion the year before.

The board declared a final dividend of 156 cents a share, up from 128 cents for 2020, taking the full year dividend to $2.00, up 16% from the year before.

"High levels of uncertainty remain this year, given the continuing impact of the pandemic. We remain confident, however, in our long-term strategy, rooted in Hong Kong and the growth markets of Asia," Executive Chairman Ben Keswick said.


Write to Anthony O. Goriainoff at anthony.orunagoriainoff@dowjones.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

03-03-22 0615ET