KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 28): The Ministry of Finance has appointed Ruslan Abdul Ghani as the group chief executive officer of Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd from March 1.

He replaces Datuk Mohammad Medan Abdullah, whose contract expires on Tuesday (Feb 28). Mohammad Medan, 64, assumed leadership of the port operating company on March 1, 2017.

Similar to Mohammad Medan, Ruslan, 55, has extensive experience in the oil and gas (O&G) industry.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday, Bintulu Port said Ruslan has 32 years of experience in the O&G industry, having spent most years in the upstream business of national O&G company Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) and assigned to four different countries, namely Sudan, Dubai, Iraq and Turkmenistan. Ruslan started his career in 1990 at Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (Sarawak operations) based in Miri. After holding various positions within the group, his last position was as the senior general manager of Petronas Carigali (Sarawak operations) prior to his retirement in June 2022.

In a separate filing, Bintulu Port said its net profit drop 88% to RM35.71 million for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2022 (4QFY2022), from RM296.81 million a year earlier, on higher expenditure during the quarter under review mainly due to higher fuel expenses and recognition of loss on disposal of concession assets at Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (BPSB).

As a result, earnings per share came in lower at 7.76 sen for 4QFY2022, compared with 64.52 sen for 4QFY2021.

Revenue for the quarter, however, rose 6.1% to RM200.86 million, from RM189.3 million for 4QFY2021.

Nevertheless, the group declared a fourth interim dividend of three sen per share for FY2022, payable on April 13. This brings the total dividend for the year to 14 sen per share, compared with 12 sen per share for FY2021.

For full year FY2022, the group's net profit fell 64.8% to RM127.72 million, from RM363.19 million in FY2021, which it attributed the lower net profit to the one-off transaction on the recognition of deferred tax assets of RM264.52 million arising from the unutilised investment tax allowance at Samalaju Industrial Port Sdn Bhd during 4QFY2021.

Revenue for FY2022 grew 8.5% to RM791.26 million from RM728.39 million in FY2021.

The group also revealed that its 30-year concession agreement with the federal government to operate Bintulu Port ended on Dec 31, 2022, although the government had in principle approved the extension of the concession for another 30 years until 2052.

It added that the government, Bintulu Port Authority and BPSB are still in the midst of negotiating the terms and conditions of the new concession agreement.

Bintulu Port shares were untraded in Tuesday morning trading. The stock last closed at RM5.20 a share on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.39 billion.