KUALA LUMPUR (May 30): Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Wednesday:

Capital A Bhd (KL:CAPITALA) has recorded its third consecutive quarterly loss, on the back of a massive foreign exchange (forex) loss and depreciation charges. The owner of low-cost carrier AirAsia posted a net loss of RM91.55 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024), in contrast to a net profit of RM57.1 million in the same period last year. It incurred RM370.9 million in forex losses as well as RM358.5 million in aircraft depreciation charges. Revenue, however, more than doubled to RM5.24 billion — the highest quarterly revenue since it was listed in November 2004 — against RM2.52 billion in 1QFY2023, driven by strong demand recovery from domestic and international travel. No dividend was declared for the quarter. — Capital A logs third straight quarterly loss despite record revenue in 1QFY2024

Axiata Group Bhd (KL:AXIATA), Malaysia’s biggest mobile carrier by revenue, said its first quarter net profit fell 19% from a year earlier mainly due to higher foreign exchange losses and finance costs. Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) was RM60.03 million compared to RM73.85 million over the same period a year earlier. Quarterly revenue increased 13% year-on-year to RM5.66 billion from RM5.00 billion. Nonetheless, the group snapped its recent streak of losses, during which it posted three consecutive quarterly losses: RM695 million in 4QFY2023, RM797.4 million in 3QFY2023 and RM576.2 million in 2QFY2023. The telco did not propose any dividend for the quarter under review. — Axiata Group's 1Q net profit down 19%, dragged by higher forex loss and finance costs

Telecommunication provider TIME dotCom Bhd’s (KL:TIMECOM) net profit slipped 3.35% in the first quarter, driven by higher personnel costs, depreciation for property, plant and equipment as well as lower net foreign exchange gains. Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) came in lower at RM110.67 million or 5.99 sen per share, compared to RM114.51 million or 6.23 sen per share in 1QFY2023. Revenue otherwise climbed 13.4% to RM417.77 million, compared to RM368.42 million from a year before, thanks to higher growth across all customer groups, with the largest coming from enterprise, followed by retail and wholesale customers. TIME recorded a one-off non-recurring revenue of RM8.1 million from cloud and other services. Excluding the item, revenue growth would have been 11.2%. No dividend was declared during the reviewed quarter. — TIME dotCom net profit drops marginally in 1Q despite 13% revenue growth

RHB Bank Bhd (KL:RHBBANK), Malaysia’s fourth-largest banking group by assets, said on Wednesday its net profit slipped 4.1% in the first quarter from a year earlier on higher provisions and operating expenses. Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) was RM730.17 million, compared with RM761.67 million for the same period a year ago. Net interest income rose 9.7% year-on-year to RM1.58 billion, while non-interest income rose 7.2% to RM504.10 million. The company did not declare any dividend for the quarter. — RHB Bank's 1Q net profit down 4.1% as higher provisions offset income growth

IHH Healthcare Bhd (KL:IHH) said its net profit shrank 45% in the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024), as earnings in the preceding year’s corresponding quarter were boosted by disposal gains. Net profit for the three months was RM767.97 million compared to RM1.39 billion one year ago. In 1QFY2023, the company booked gains of RM981.42 million from the sale of IMU Health Sdn Bhd and Gleneagles Chengdu Hospital. Quarterly revenue, however, grew 16% year-on-year to a record high RM5.96 billion from RM5.14 billion, thanks to higher demand, a case-mix of more acute patients and price adjustments to counter inflation. New acquisitions also contributed to the increase. It did not declare any dividend for the quarter under review. — IHH Healthcare's net profit down in 1QFY2024 on absence of disposal gains, core profit up 22%

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd’s (KL:PCHEM) first quarter net profit rose 26% from a year earlier, thanks to foreign exchange gains, as well as lower energy and utilities costs. Net profit for the three months ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) was RM668.00 million compared to RM532.00 million over the same period a year earlier. Revenue for the quarter, however, slipped 0.8% year-on-year to RM7.50 billion, from RM7.56 billion. No dividend was declared. — Petronas Chemicals’ 1Q net profit rises 26% on forex gains, lower costs

Petronas Gas Bhd (KL:PETGAS), which operates Malaysia’s largest pipeline network, saw net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) rise 7.7% from a year earlier, as lower input prices offset a decline in revenue. Quarterly net profit stood at RM456.65 million, versus RM424.18 million for 1QFY2023. Revenue, meanwhile, slipped 3.4% year-on-year to RM1.62 billion from RM1.68 billion. The group declared a first interim dividend of 16 sen per share, equivalent to a payout of RM316.6 million, payable on June 27. — PetGas' 1Q net profit rises 7.7% on lower input costs

Farm Fresh Bhd’s (KL:FFB) net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2024 (FY2024) rose 27% to RM63.53 million, from RM50.08 million a year ago, as full-year revenue surged to RM810.41 million from RM629.69 million. Its net profit for the fourth quarter rose to RM23.93 million from RM4.89 million, while revenue increased 33.26% to RM215.03 million compared to RM161.36 million. The company did not declare any dividend. — Farm Fresh's full-year net profit rises 27% to RM63.5m on higher sales, lower costs

IJM Corp Bhd's (KL:IJM) net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024 (4QFY2024) leapt over 10-fold to RM305.5 million from RM23.1 million a year earlier, thanks to a sharp rise in other operating income. The construction giant’s other operating income soared to RM241.79 million from RM71 million in the previous corresponding quarter. Quarterly revenue jumped 32.6% to RM1.76 billion versus RM1.33 billion previously, driven by improvements across all segments, except for its infrastructure toll division. It declared a single-tier second interim dividend of five sen and a special dividend of one sen, to be paid on July 19. This brings total dividend payment for the full financial year ended March 31, 2024 (FY2024) to eight sen per share, similar to FY2023. — IJM's 4Q net profit swells, declares six sen dividend

Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd’s (KL:KERJAYA) net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 grew 14% year-on-year to RM33.55 million from RM29.41 million, on the back of a 13% rise in revenue to RM337.14 million versus RM297.25 million. The increase in revenue stemmed from improvement in the progress of construction work activities. It declared a first interim single-tier dividend of 2.5 sen per share, to be paid on July 5. Meanwhile, it is bidding for the construction of data centers and semiconductor factories worth over RM3 billion this year. The company partnered with Samsung C&T Corp in bidding for two of such jobs, Kerjaya’s chief executive officer Tee Eng Tiong told an earnings briefing. However, Kerjaya’s part in the venture has yet to be determined, he said, noting that the company expects to take up around 30% in the projects. — Kerjaya Prospek posts 14% in 1Q net profit, declares 2.5 sen dividend; Kerjaya Prospek bids for data centre, semicon factory projects worth RM3 bil

MyEG Services Bhd (KL:MYEG) posted its highest quarterly net profit of RM155.83 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024 (1QFY2024) on the back of an increase in revenue. Net profit came in 47.1% higher than the RM105.83 million it reported for the same quarter a year earlier. Earnings per share rose to 2.1 sen from 1.4 sen in 1QFY2023. Quarterly revenue increased 34.48% year-on-year to RM232.96 million from RM173.22 million. No dividends were announced for the quarter. — MyEG posts record RM156m 1Q net profit on higher revenue

Lagenda Properties Bhd (KL:LAGENDA), which hit limit-down on Wednesday,  said one of its senior personnel was remanded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) under an investigation into the subdivision of Malay reserve land in Manjung, Perak. However, it is business as usual for the property developer, the head of investments and investor relations Jasrinderjit Singh Dhillon said at an analyst briefing. He did not identify the personnel, but said that the board of directors and executive director Andy Chua Seng Hooi would be taking over the leadership for now. Lagenda’s six-member board consists of non-executive directors, except for managing director Datuk Doh Jee Ming. Local media reported that a managing director of a real estate company had been remanded by the anti-graft body for four days to assist in an investigation concerning the subdivision of Malay reserve land in Manjung, Perak. Jasrinderjit noted as far as Lagenda was aware, that sole senior personnel is the only individual to be remanded and the investigation does not concern the group nor any of its units. — Lagenda assures it's business as usual after senior personnel remanded in MACC probe