KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd's (CMS) net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) almost trebled to RM154.36 million, from RM53.88 million a year earlier, helped by the recognition of negative goodwill of RM62.47 million arising from the acquisition of Oiltools group.
The higher earnings were also due the reversal of impairment of RM37.69 million on investment and loan to an associate, the group said in a Bursa Malaysia filing.
Earnings per share for 3QFY2022 swelled to 14.37 sen from 5.02 sen previously.
Quarterly revenue climbed 49.78% to RM278.39 million from RM185.87 million a year ago as the group's performance improved after being previously impacted by the restricted movements due to Covid-19.
For the cumulative nine months ended Sept 30, 2022 (9MFY2022), CMS' net profit rose 48.52% to RM265.95 million from RM179.06 million in the same period last year, as 9MFY2022 revenue grew 22.56% to RM702.17 million from RM572.93 million.
CMS said that while the second half of FY2022 has been challenging for the group, there has been a marginal reduction in material costs which should augur well for the next financial year, with the infrastructure and rural development projects in Sarawak remaining intact.
The group said it continues to hold a longer-term view that once logistical bottlenecks and raw material costs stabilise, activities will further pick up and will benefit the group's businesses.
With the completion of the acquisition of the Oiltools business, the group foresees a positive contribution from this division in the coming quarters.
Meanwhile, the phosphate plant project under Malaysian Phosphate Additives (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd is scheduled to complete its commissioning activities by the end of 2022, with CMS remains focused on achieving this goal and is closely monitoring the key items and milestones for the success of this project.
CMS' share price ended 7.69% or 7.5 sen higher at RM1.05 on Tuesday (Nov 29), bringing the group a market capitalisation of RM1.12 billion.