KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 31): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made the news on Wednesday involving Malayan Banking Bhd, CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Building Society Bhd, Chin Hin Group Bhd, Ta Ann Holdings Bhd, Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd, Farm Fresh Bhd, Datasonic Group Bhd, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, Ekovest Bhd, Westports Holdings Bhd, Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd, Comintel Corp Bhd, RGB International Bhd and Sunview Group Bhd.
Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 rose 45% to RM2.34 billion from RM1.61 billion a year earlier, led by higher non-interest income from stronger treasury and market income. Southeast Asia’s fourth largest bank by assets said revenue for the quarter jumped to RM16.13 billion from RM10.25 billion a year earlier. Maybank declared a dividend of 29 sen per share, translating to a dividend payout ratio of 75.9%, equivalent to RM3.5 billion, to be paid no later than three months.
The banking group expects its net interest margin (NIM) to decline by 25 basis points year-on-year for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), primarily due to competition in funding and deposits. Maybank group president and chief executive officer Datuk Khairussaleh Ramli said the banking group recorded a steep NIM compression decline of 23 basis points to 2.16% in the first half of the financial year (1HFY2023) compared to 2.39% in FY2022.
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd’s net profit rose 38.45% to RM1.77 billion for 2QFY2023 from RM1.28 billion a year earlier, driven by strong operating income growth, stringent cost controls and lower provisions as the group benefits from its diversified Asean portfolio, with strong business growth recorded in Indonesia and Singapore. Quarterly revenue increased by 9.2% to RM5.33 billion from RM4.88 billion. It declared a first interim dividend of 17.50 sen per share, 35% higher than the 13 sen paid a year ago. The bank foresees that pressure on its NIM will dissipate in the second half of 2023 (2H2023).
Hong Leong Bank Bhd reported a net profit of RM864.68 million in the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2023 (4QFY2023), down 4.73% compared to RM907.64 million posted a year ago, due to lower net income of RM195.2 million and higher operating expenses of RM27.3 million. Its quarterly revenue dipped 13% to RM1.30 billion, against RM1.50 billion posted in 4QFY2022. The bank declared a final dividend of 38 sen per share, bringing the total dividend to 59 sen per share for FY2023.
Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) reported a net profit of RM83.7 million for 2QFY2023, down 41.18% from RM142.3 million a year ago. The lower net profit was because other operating expenses rose while net income, excluding expected credit losses, decreased. On the other hand, revenue rose 8.42% to RM711.53 million from RM656.27 million, led by its consumer banking segment.
Chin Hin Group Bhd posted a 43.18% drop in net profit to RM21.87 million for 2QFY2023 from RM38.49 million a year earlier, amid a lower fair value gain on other investments. The group's lower earnings was also due to a lower gain on disposal of RM1.11 million (compared to RM4.02 million in 2QFY2022) and higher impairment loss on receivables of RM3.62 million (RM1.63 million previously) due to subsidiary Chin Hin Group Property Bhd’s long outstanding debts. Quarterly revenue rose 42.48% to RM500.57 million, from RM 351.33 million a year ago, due to higher progress of work done on the construction site and a high volume of the wall panel and autoclaved aerated concrete blocks sold to private and government projects in Singapore.
Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd’s (CMS) net profit declined 33.42% to RM26.35 million in 2QFY2023 from RM39.57 million a year earlier, due to a lower share of profit of associates. Earnings per share declined to 2.45 sen, from 6.70 sen. CMS also attributed the lower quarterly earnings to a bigger loss before tax of RM29.83 million reported by its phosphate division, compared with RM13.93 million in 2QFY2022. Quarterly revenue increased 38.52% to RM290.52 million, from RM209.74 million, mainly due to the contribution of RM71.62 million from the oiltools division.
Farm Fresh Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended June 30, 2023 (1QFY2024) dropped 58% year-on-year amid escalating costs of dairy raw materials, coupled with higher finance cost and marketing spend on new product launches. Net profit fell to RM6.37 million or 0.34 sen per share for 1QFY2024, from RM15.24 million or 0.82 sen per share a year ago. Farm Fresh said earnings for 1QFY2024 were also dampened by professional fees incurred for the acquisition of The Inside Scoop Sdn Bhd. Revenue for 1QFY2024, however, grew 29% to RM185.46 million from RM144.02 million a year ago, driven by stronger sales in both its Australian and Malaysian operations, coupled with positive impact from its launching of new products.
Datasonic Group Bhd posted a 58.21% gain in net profit to RM19.04 million for 1QFY2024 from RM12.03 million a year earlier, on the back of higher revenue. Earnings per share increased to 0.67 sen from 0.42 sen. Revenue rose 32.36% to RM84.82 million from RM64.08 million, with RM75.77 million of the amount derived from the supply of smart cards, passport and personalisation services compared with RM55.8 million previously. The group has declared a first interim dividend of 0.60 sen per share, compared with 0.25 sen per share a year ago.
Ekovest Bhd has proposed to undertake a private placement of up to 10% of its issued shares to strategic and/or institutional investors to raise up to RM117.27 million — mainly to fund the construction cost of the Rapid Transit System (RTS) Link project. The placement, to be implemented in tranches, entails the issuance of up to 269.58 million new shares, with the issue price of the first tranche fixed at 43.5 sen per share, representing a discount of 4.35 sen or 9.09% to the group's five-day volume weighted average market price up to and including Aug 29 of 47.85 sen per share. The issue price of the remainder of the placement shares is yet to be fixed, but is assumed to also be at 43.5 sen, which could raise a total of up to RM117.27 million for the group, of which RM86 million will be used to partially fund the RTS Link. Of the balance, RM28.47 million will be used for working capital and RM2.8 million to defray the placement's expenses.
The Cabinet has agreed to Westports Holdings Bhd’s proposed expansion plan for its port. Westports said its wholly owned Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd had received a letter from the Port Klang Authority saying that the company’s proposed expansion of its container terminals 10 to 17 had been presented to the Cabinet on July 25. However, the expansion was only approved for container terminals 10-17, instead of 10-19, the group said.
Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd has secured a RM125.02 million contract from a subsidiary of UEM Sunrise Bhd for a proposed phase two development project at Taman Equine in Bandar Putra Permai. The group, via its wholly-owned unit Kerjaya Prospek (M) Sdn Bhd, had received a letter of award on Wednesday from UEM Sunrise’s wholly-owned Sunrise Alliance Sdn Bhd.
Comintel Corp Bhd has bagged a RM161.28 million contract to undertake the construction of two building blocks for a data centre project in Bukit Jalil, Kuala Lumpur. Comintel said its wholly-owned subsidiary Binastra Builders Sdn Bhd accepted the letter of award from Exsim Jalil Link Sdn Bhd (EJL) on Wednesday.
RGB International Bhd has clarified that its independent non-executive director Tan Sri Norazman Hamidun was not arrested by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC), while managing director Datuk Seri Chuah Kim Seah is currently on bail and giving his full cooperation to the authorities. The company highlighted that the investigation had been largely focused on Chuah’s private business related to slot clubs. RGB's involvement in this investigation is solely related to the sale of machines to Malaysia's slot clubs.
Renewable energy player Sunview Group Bhd has planned a private placement to raise an estimated RM39.31 million to fund its engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning projects. The placement entails the issuance of up to 46.8 million new shares — representing 10% of Sunview’s issued shares — to independent investors at an issue price to be determined. The group said the assumed price of 84 sen represents a discount of 9.87% to the five-day volume weighted average market price of Sunview’s shares up to the latest practicable date of 93.20 sen. Separately, Sunview said net profit for its first quarter ended June 30, 2023 (1QFY2024) increased 9.85% to RM1.99 million from RM1.8 million a year ago. Revenue jumped more than three times to RM108.72 million from RM31.5 million, mainly attributed to the recognition of the progress of construction works for large-scale solar 4 (LSS4) projects.