KUALA LUMPUR (May 16): Hong Leong Industries Bhd’s (HLI) (KL:HLIND) net profit for its third financial quarter jumped 51% year-on-year, thanks to a RM25 million insurance compensation it received for the disruption caused by floods in its motorcycle business during the third quarter of FY2022.

Its net profit for the third financial quarter ended March 31, 2024 (3QFY2024) increased to RM99.43 million versus RM65.91 million a year earlier, the group's Bursa Malaysia filing on Thursday showed.

However, revenue for the quarter fell 17.9% to RM758.03 million from RM923.35 million in 3QFY2023, due to lower motorcycle sales.

The group declared a second interim single tier dividend of 37 sen per share for the quarter under review, with an ex-date of June 4, payable on June 25. This brings the year-to-date dividend to RM1.07 per share, exceeding the total dividend of 57 sen paid for the full financial year ended June 30, 2023 (FY2023) and 52 sen paid for FY2022.

For the nine-month period (9MFY2024), HLI’s net profit grew 30.8% to RM289.57 million from RM221.32 million in the previous year's corresponding period, on the back of an 11.8% decline in revenue to RM2.34 billion from RM2.65 billion previously.

In addition to the insurance compensation it received in 3QFY2024, the group attributed its bottomline performance to better sales for higher margin motorcycle models and a one-off gain of RM18.7 million from the disposal of its fibre cement board manufacturing business.

Going forward, HLI expects motorcycle demand to remain stable as it looks to continue focusing on growing and optimising products with better margins.

"Barring any unforeseen circumstances, the board expects the group to achieve a satisfactory result for the financial year," it said.

Shares of HLI rose two sen or 0.18% to RM10.84 at Thursday’s market close, translating into a market capitalisation of RM3.55 billion. The counter has risen 18.5% over the past year.