KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 29): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made the news on Monday involving Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Malakoff Corp Bhd, FGV Holdings Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd, Mah Sing Group Bhd, IOI Properties Group Bhd, Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd, Dagang Nexchange Bhd, UEM Sunrise Bhd, Oppstar Bhd and RGB International Bhd.
Petronas Dagangan Bhd (PetDag) reported a 16% increase in its net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) to RM275.71 million or 27.80 sen per share, from RM237.68 million or 23.90 sen per share a year ago supported by higher volume, mainly driven by resilient domestic demand and international travel. The performance was further boosted by improved margin for the commercial segment driven by stability in prices’ trend for jet A1 and diesel. The higher net profit was despite a 6.19% drop in revenue to RM8.91 billion from RM9.5 billion in 2QFY2022 due to the downward movement of oil prices. PetDag declared an interim dividend of 18 sen per share for 2QFY2023, higher than the 11 sen declared a year ago.
Malakoff Corp Bhd registered a net loss of RM318.73 million or 6.52 sen per share for 2QFY2023 compared with a net profit of RM119.15 million or 2.44 sen per share a year earlier. The group said the significant decline in earnings was mainly due to substantial negative fuel margins of RM556.2 million and RM14.9 million at Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd (TBP) and Tanjung Bin Energy Sdn Bhd (TBE) coal plants, impacted by higher weighted average fuel costs. In addition, earnings were also dragged by a lower contribution from GB3 Sdn Bhd following the expiry of the power purchase agreement on Dec 30, 2022, higher operating insurance costs as well as lower share of profit from associates and joint ventures. Revenue increased by 2% to RM2.36 billion from RM2.32 billion in 2QFY2022, primarily due to a higher energy payment and capacity income from TBE given the higher applicable coal price and shorter duration of plant outage as well as higher energy payment from Segari Energy Ventures Sdn Bhd due to an increase in despatch factor. Notwithstanding the poor financial performance, Malakoff declared an interim dividend of 1.5 sen per share, to be paid on Oct 27.
FGV Holdings Bhd recorded a net loss of RM12.9 million for 2QFY2023, versus a net profit of RM374.02 million a year ago, due to lower crude palm oil (CPO) prices and the impairment loss of its Indonesian plantation assets. This is the plantation giant’s first quarterly net loss since 1QFY2021, when it posted a RM35.42 million net loss. On the back of the lower CPO prices, FGV’s quarterly revenue declined 39.48% to RM4.49 billion from RM7.43 billion in 2QFY2022.
Sime Darby Property Bhd, having raised its sales target of RM2.3 billion to RM2.7 billion for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), is confident of achieving its goal, even if a further interest rate hike materialises in the coming months. Its managing director Datuk Azmir Merican’s confidence is based on its 1HFY2023 sales, which totalled RM1.5 billion, representing 65% of its RM2.3 billion sales target for FY2023. Meanwhile, for 2QFY2023, Sime Darby Property’s net profit fell 32% to RM71.07 million, from RM104.99 million a year earlier, on the back of higher share of loss from joint ventures. Revenue for the quarter rose to RM688.92 million, from RM615.61 million a year ago. Despite the lower earnings in the quarter under review, it declared an interim dividend of one sen per share, amounting to a payout of RM68 million.
AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) posted its fourth consecutive quarterly net profit in 2QFY2023 amounting to RM5.54 million, compared to a massive net loss of RM652.52 million in the same period last year as quarterly revenue soared 379% on the back of a surge in international travel as borders reopened. Revenue increased to RM512.91 million for the quarter, compared to RM107.18 million in 2QFY2022 as more aircraft were brought back to service.
Mah Sing Group Bhd’s net profit increased by 17% to RM50.48 million or 2.08 sen per share in 2QFY2023 from RM43.03 million or 0.85 sen per share a year ago, on the back of higher property sales. The group achieved robust earnings in 2QFY2023, with a pre-tax profit of RM75 million and a revenue of RM644.2 million.
IOI Properties Group Bhd closed its financial year ended June 30, 2023 (FY2023) with net profit doubling to RM1.39 billion from RM686.74 million in FY2022, thanks to a 26% increase in operating profit in its property investment portfolio and a fair value gain that contributed RM716.8 million, while revenue was largely unchanged at RM2.59 billion. The group said its stronger annual profit demonstrates its robustness in managing through economic fluctuations and business cycles as the value of its investment properties matures. It announced an interim dividend payout of five sen per share, higher than the four sen it announced for FY2022. The stronger yearly profit came despite a 19.52% drop in its final quarter’s net profit to RM235.37 million from RM292.48 million a year ago, mainly due to its property development segment's lower performance. Quarterly revenue dipped 6.91% to RM666.46 million from RM715.94 million.
Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd's (MPI) net profit plunged 89.9% to RM8.14 million or 4.09 sen per share in the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2023 from RM80.49 million or 40.47 sen per share a year ago due to weak end-market electronics demand, elevated inventories and higher energy costs. Revenue fell 21% to RM482.43 million from RM612.04 million. The company said although revenue was flat compared with the preceding quarter, the global semiconductor revenue for different end-markets fluctuated from quarter to quarter.
IJM Corp Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2023 (1QFY2024) tripled to RM100.64 million from RM33.4 million in the corresponding quarter in FY2023, mainly due to higher foreign exchange (forex) gains recorded in the quarter, and as revenue grew. The group's quarterly revenue gained 14.3% to RM1.23 billion in 1QFY2024 from RM1.07 billion in 1QFY2023, driven by topline improvement across its businesses.
Technology, energy and IT company Dagang Nexchange Bhd (DNeX) reported a 70.4% drop in its net profit to RM47.51 million for the April-June 2023 period, from RM160.59 million in the corresponding three months in the previous year, as its tech business fell into a loss amid lower wafer shipments. Group revenue fell about 40% to RM275.02 million from RM450.57 million, with its biggest contributor, the technology business, seeing a 49.6% topline drop to RM128.08 million from RM254.09 million.
UEM Sunrise Bhd will be exiting the South African market with the proposed disposal by its indirect wholly owned subsidiary UEM Sunrise South Africa Proprietary Ltd of an 80.4% stake in Roc-Union Proprietary Ltd and claims of total shareholder advances worth 118.4 million rand (RM29.5 million). The total shareholder advances were given by Roc-Union to UEM Sunrise South Africa Proprietary, which is wholly owned by UEM Sunrise Overseas Corp Sdn Bhd (UEMSOC). The property developer said that UEM Sunrise South Africa had entered into a sale of shares and claims agreement with Azishe Properties Proprietary Ltd for the proposed divestment.
Oppstar Bhd, a homegrown integrated circuit (IC) designing firm, emphasised that its recent joint venture with a Chinese national does not involve any party that have been sanctioned from accessing US technology. The group chief executive officer Ng Meng Thai told The Edge that it is not experiencing any slowdown in customers’ enquiries, despite the ongoing slowdown in the semiconductor industry.
RGB International Bhd, whose shares fell in active trading on Monday has clarified that the group only undertakes the outright sale of gaming machines, and has no involvement or ownership in slot clubs in the country. The Penang-based gaming solutions provider also said that it "had not and will not condone any form of political funding". The group said it was responding to an article entitled RGB International Bhd Syarikat Judi Taja Hamzah, VIP, PN: CEO dan Tan Sri ditahan SPRM? published by Sabahkini2.com on Sunday. According to a report in Utusan Malaysia on Sunday, 13 individuals including an individual with the Tan Sri title were arrested by the MACC last Wednesday on suspicion of being involved in the ownership of companies that supplied gambling slot machines. They allegedly received funds from companies that were granted licences to operate slot machine activities in private clubs owned by the companies, with the funds used to finance campaigns during the 14th and 15th general elections and the recent state elections.