KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (KL:BIPORT), the operator of East Malaysia’s largest container port, reported a 13.68% drop in its third quarter net profit, mainly due to a jump in operating costs due to an increase in expenditure incurred on service contracts, as well as for repair and maintenance.

Net profit for the three months ended Sept 30, 2024 (3QFY2024) fell to RM28.05 million from RM32.49 million in 3QFY2023, the company said in an exchange on Friday. 

Revenue for the quarter, meanwhile, rose 8.71% to RM202.77 million, compared with RM186.53 million a year earlier — despite no construction services revenue recorded under its concession infrastructure segment, as opposed to RM460,000 in 3QFY2023. The rise in quarterly revenue was mainly driven by higher port services revenue at Bintulu Port from the handling of liquefied natural gas (LNG) cargo and supply base activities, and an increase in topline from its Samalaju Industrial Port operations.

The company declared a third interim dividend of three sen per share, to be paid on Dec 26. This brings its year-to-date dividend payout to 10 sen, up one sen from the same period a year ago.

For the first nine months of FY2024 ended Sept 30 (9MFY2024), Bintulu Port’s net profit jumped 43.03% to RM112.6 million from RM78.72 million in 9MFY2023, as revenue grew 10.46% to RM608.34 million from RM550.74 million, with higher turnover across all its business segments.

The company expects the handling of exports for LNG cargo to continue to drive its main revenue, supported by positive revenue growth from our supply base activities and encouraging revenue contribution from bulking activities, palm oil, dry bulk cargo handling, and Samalaju cargoes,” it said.

Bintulu Port shares closed one sen higher at RM6.01 on Friday, valuing the group at RM2.76 billion. The stock has climbed 77 sen or nearly 15% from the start of the year.