KUALA LUMPUR (May 13): Oil-and-gas services firm Dialog Group Bhd (KL:DIALOG) said on Monday that its third-quarter net profit rose 19% from a year earlier, thanks to higher upstream output.

Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (3QFY2024) was RM156.16 million compared to RM130.81 million over the same period a year earlier, Dialog Group said in an exchange filing. Revenue for the quarter fell 13% year-on-year to RM702.2 million, from RM802.79 million.

The group declared an interim dividend of 1.50 sen, against 1.30 sen for the previous corresponding period.

“The general outlook of the oil market continues to see an improvement following disruption to demand caused by global events,” Dialog Group said. “The group will continue to invest in phased capacity expansions for long-term customers across the ‘midstream terminals’ business portfolio.”

In the downstream segment, Dialog said it will conduct thorough risk assessments for new projects and “strategically pursue opportunities” while being cautious and selective, particularly in the bidding process for lump-sum engineering, procurement, construction and commissioning contracts.

Dialog said its storage facilities for renewable fuel products with a capacity of 24,000 cubic metres under Dialog Terminal Langsat 3 are expected to commence operations by the end of 2024.

“This venture will serve potential users, such as biofuel production companies, energy trading houses and multinational energy companies,” it said.

Meanwhile, the group is investing RM250 million to expand its fabrication facilities in Pengerang, alongside its associate company Morimatsu Dialog (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, to provide one-stop technical and fabrication solutions for the energy, chemical, fine chemical and pharmaceutical industries.

It is also building its first speciality chemical plant, producing malic acid in Kuantan, Pahang, to expand its downstream business.

For the first nine months of FY2024, Dialog’s net profit rose 37.8% to RM436.62 million, from RM383.74 million in the same period of a year earlier (9MFY2023). Revenue increased 1.3% to RM2.34 billion, from RM2.31 billion.

Shares of Dialog closed unchanged at RM2.48 on Monday, valuing the group at RM14 billion. Year to date, the counter has risen 42 sen or 20.4%.