KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Wednesday involving Widad Group Bhd, Kawan Food Bhd, SkyWorld Development Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Taliworks Corp Bhd, Malayan Banking Bhd (Maybank), Sunway Bhd, MST Golf Group Bhd, Malayan Flour Mills Bhd (MFlour), Pos Malaysia Bhd, Time Dotcom Bhd, Supercomnet Technologies Bhd, Boustead Plantation Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, AMMB Holdings Bhd, MISC Bhd and Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd.

Widad Group Bhd’s unit has secured a RM116.8 million contract to build Phase 1A of the Tok Bali Industrial Park in Gong Kulim, Kelantan for the East Coast Economic Region Development Council. The contract period spans 156 weeks starting from Dec 4. Widad said its wholly-owned unit Widad Builders Sdn Bhd accepted the contract from East Coast Economic Region Development Sdn Bhd.

Kawan Food Bhd’s net profit in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) fell by 26.07% to RM7.67 million compared with RM10.4 million in the same period last year, largely due to higher selling and distribution costs. The group’s quarterly revenue, however, rose by 10.28% to RM79.22 million from RM71.83 million, mainly contributed from the local market and rising demand in the North America/Asia market. For the nine-month period ended Sept 30 (9MFY2023), Kawan Food’s net profit dropped by 28.73% to RM21.27 million from RM29.85 million a year ago.

SkyWorld Development Bhd has declared its first interim dividend of RM12.5 million or 1.25 sen per share for the second quarter ended Sept 30 (2QFY2024), after posting a net profit of RM19.1 million or 2.53 sen per share. The property outfit said it had unbilled sales of RM713.6 million as at end-September, and reiterated plans to launch new projects in Kuala Lumpur in the current financial year with total estimated gross development value exceeding RM1 billion.

Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) dropped 31.18% to RM16.79 million from RM24.4 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter as depreciation costs and one-off operating costs more than offset higher revenue. The dairy producer attributed the decline in quarterly profit to the ongoing accelerated depreciation of assets in its Petaling Jaya factory. Additionally, the group incurred one-off operating costs associated with the construction and transition to its new facility in Bandar Enstek, Negeri Sembilan. Dutch Lady declared a second interim dividend of 25 sen per share — bringing the year-to-date dividend to 50 sen per share — to be paid on Dec 14.

Taliworks Corp Bhd’s net profit rose to RM13.54 million or 0.68 sen per share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) from RM12.51 million or 0.62 sen per share a year earlier, helped by a higher share of results from jointly-controlled entity Grand Sepadu (NK) Sdn Bhd on the back of toll compensation. Revenue fell slightly to RM90.74 million from RM91.28 million in 3QFY2022, due to lower revenue from the construction and water treatment and supply segments. The group declared a third interim dividend of 1.65 sen per share to be paid on Dec 22, raising its year-to-date dividend to 4.95 sen per share.

Malayan Banking Bhd’s (Maybank) net profit rose 12.29% to RM2.36 billion for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) from RM2.1 billion in the previous year’s corresponding quarter, on higher operating income and lower allowance for impairment losses on loans. Quarterly revenue grew 22.95% to RM16.01 billion from RM13.02 billion. No dividend was declared for 3QFY2023, according to Maybank, Southeast Asia’s fourth largest bank by assets. Maybank said its net operating income fell 5.2% to RM6.75 billion from RM7.12 billion, due to lower net fund-based income of RM4.81 billion compared with RM5.29 billion in 3QFY2022, as net interest margin compressed due to persistent funding competition.

Sunway Bhd’s net profit in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) grew by 8.76% to RM180.3 million from RM165.78 million a year ago, supported by higher contribution from its core business segments. The group said its quarterly revenue expanded by 21.14% to RM1.54 billion from RM1.27 billion in 3QFY2022, mainly due to higher contribution from most business segments except for the property development division.  

MST Golf Group Bhd posted a net profit of RM1.63 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), a 59.41% decline from RM4.01 million in the previous quarter as one-off costs of RM4.4 million related to its Main Market listing on July 20 were fully expensed during the period under review. On a normalised basis, the net profit would have risen to RM6 million, representing a 50% increase from 2QFY2023. Revenue increased 8.44% quarter-on-quarter to RM82.34 million from RM75.94 million in 2QFY2023, thanks to the retail segment which contributed RM70.07 million, followed by the wholesale segment (RM6.64 million), golf services segment (RM4 million) and indoor golf segment (RM1.63 million).

Malayan Flour Mills Bhd (MFlour) posted a net profit of RM24.21 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) that was 47.62% lower than the RM46.21 million posted a year ago, owing to higher input costs and a stronger US dollar. Quarterly revenue declined by 3.07% to RM774.91 million compared with RM799.45 million, mainly attributed to lower sales recorded in the period.

Pos Malaysia Bhd continued to bleed in its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) with a net loss of RM33.34 million — albeit slightly lower than the RM33.63 million it lost in the previous year’s corresponding quarter despite lower revenue as it managed to trim its cost of sales and operating expenses. The lower cost of sales and operating expenses, which dropped by 7% or RM37.52 million to RM493.73 million from RM531.25 million, cushioned the impact of lower revenue — which fell by RM30.29 million to RM461.71 million from RM492 million — and higher finance costs, which rose to RM11.46 million from RM9.34 million.

Time Dotcom Bhd’s net profit dropped 10.2% to RM106.6 million or 5.78 sen per share in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) from RM118.74 million or 6.49 per share a year ago, on lower gain of foreign exchange, higher depreciation costs and increased operating expenses (opex). Quarterly revenue increased 14% to RM411.07 million from RM360.65 million. Time’s divestment of AIMS data centre to Digital Bridge Group Inc’s unit DB Arrow Pte Ltd was completed on April 20, 2023, and as such, the 3QFY2022 results consist of three months of financial results of discontinued operations.

Supercomnet Technologies Bhd registered a net profit of RM7.4 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), a 26.74% decline from RM10.1 million a year prior due to lower revenue. Earnings per share dropped to 0.95 sen from 1.33 sen. Quarterly revenue fell 27.93% to RM32.53 million from RM45.14 million in 3QFY2022 due to lower orders from the industrial segment and a temporary dip in demand for the automotive segment. Supercomnet declared an interim dividend of 0.5 sen per share payable on Dec 28.

Boustead Plantation Bhd (BPlant) returned to the black in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) with a net profit of RM15.22 million from a net loss of RM352,000 a year ago, mainly due to yield and oil extraction rate (OER) improvement, as well as a favourable impact of fresh fruit bunches (FFB) valuation. Revenue for 3QFY2023 was 15% lower at RM202.55 million against RM240.25 million a year ago. Average crude palm oil price in 3QFY2023 stood at RM3,861 per tonne, a decrease of 6% from RM4,089 per tonne in 3QFY2022 while the palm kernel average price declined 16% to RM2,101 per tonne.

Genting Plantations Bhd‘s (GenP) net profit rose 6.7% in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) to RM80.52 million from RM75.49 million a year prior on improved production from its Indonesian estate which more than offset lower downstream sales volume. Revenue fell 5.66% to RM775.79 million from RM822.37 million, it added. The group’s achieved crude palm oil price was RM3,409 per metric ton (MT) in 3QFY2023 and RM3,517 per MT in the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2023 (9MFY2023) while palm kernel price was RM1,776 per MT in 3QFY2023 and RM1,888 per MT in 9MFY2023, it said.

AMMB Holdings Bhd‘s net profit rose 10.06% to RM469.78 million in the second quarter ended Sept 30 (2QFY2024) from RM426.84 million as write-back of provisions and lower loan impairments more than offset the weaker operating profit in the quarter. The 2QFY2024 performance is AMMB’s highest quarterly net profit attributable to equity holders since 4QFY2015 when it posted net profit of RM519.22 million against net income of RM1.11 billion. The banking group has declared a dividend of six sen per share, unchanged from the same period last year.

MISC Bhd‘s net profit fell 47.55% year-on-year in the three months ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), in the absence of a one-off gain from its petroleum and products shipping segment, lower vessel conversion progress, and losses in its 66.5%-owned subsidiary Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE). Revenue also declined 6.89% to RM3.37 billion in 3QFY2023 from RM3.61 billion in 3QFY2022 as revenue growth from gas shipping and heavy engineering segments more than offset the weaker petroleum business and offshore business contributions. The shipping group declared a third interim dividend of seven sen per share for FY2023, bringing total dividends for the year to 24 sen per share, up from 21 sen a year earlier.

Oil and gas exploration and production company Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd saw its net profit for its first financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (1QFY2024) rise 14.1% to RM154.3 million from RM135.26 million a year earlier, on high average realised prices obtained for the sale of both crude oil and gas. It achieved an average realised oil price of US$96.94 (RM451.06) per barrel in the current quarter. The group also declared a first interim dividend of two sen per share for the financial year ending June 30, 2024 (FY2024) with an aim to declare a minimum total dividend per share of 7.5 sen over the course of FY2024.