Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd's (BHIC) pre-tax profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2010 rose to RM95.054 million from RM94.876 million in the same period of 2009.

Its revenue increased to RM649.797 million from RM543.851 million previously, it said in a statement today.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2010, its pre-tax profit, however, declined to RM19.977 million from RM21.998 million in the same quarter 2009.

It said this was due to cost escalation from delays in completing certain shipbuilding projects.

Its revenue jumped to RM229.205 million from RM163.582 million previously.

BHIC said the increase was mainly due to the ongoing naval vessels maintenance projects, including from the submarine in-service support contract.

Its managing director, Tan Sri Ahmad Ramli Mohd Nor, said although the final quarter this year has been challenging, it was also rewarding as the company inched closer to complete the consolidation of various operational aspects of the group.

On outlook, Ahmad Ramli said said the company was on the right track in terms of its direction and strategy.

'The group's main focus for this year is to improve on operational efficiencies of our relevant entities to ensure the smooth execution of this strategy,' he said.

The board has proposed a first interim tax exempt dividend of 6.5 per cent per share in respect of year ending Dec 31, 2011. -- BERNAMA