TM, Public Bank, Genting, Genting Malaysia, Sime Darby Property, YTL Corp, YTL Power Intl, Inari, Petron, Hap Seng, Axiata, Dutch Lady, Velesto, Hextar Industries, Berjaya Land, MBM, 7-Eleven, Revenue, MBSB, MCT and Bumi Armada

TM, Public Bank, Genting, Genting Malaysia, Sime Darby Property, YTL Corp, YTL Power Intl, Inari, Petron, Hap Seng, Axiata, Dutch Lady, Velesto, Hextar Industries, Berjaya Land, MBM, 7-Eleven, Revenue, MBSB, MCT and Bumi Armada

KUALA LUMPUR (May 25): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Thursday (May 25): Telekom Malaysia Bhd, Public Bank Bhd, Genting Bhd, Genting Malaysia Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd, YTL Corp Bhd, YTL Power International Bhd, Inari Amertron Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Velesto Energy Bhd, Hextar Industries Bhd, Berjaya Land Bhd, MBM Resources Bhd, 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd, Revenue Group Bhd, Malaysia Building Society Bhd, MCT Bhd and Bumi Armada Bhd.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM) reported a 2.9% decline in net profit to RM330.1 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared with RM339.85 million in the same quarter a year ago, due to the group’s decision to accelerate depreciation and impairment of information technology assets, in view of changes in market conditions. Quarterly revenue grew 2% to RM2.95 billion from RM2.89 billion previously, driven by continuous growth across Unifi and TM Global.

Public Bank Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 rose 22% to RM1.71 billion from RM1.4 billion a year earlier, due to the absence of the prosperity tax. In a Bursa Malaysia filing, Public Bank said revenue for the quarter rose 25% to RM6.12 billion from RM4.89 billion earlier, led by healthy loans and deposit growth. Public Bank did not declare any dividend for the quarter.

Genting Bhd posted a net profit of RM98.04 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, versus a net loss of RM199.68 million a year before, on the back of better contribution from the leisure and hospitality division as a result of ongoing recovery in regional travel and gaming demand after the relaxation of Covid-19 restrictions, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia. Quarterly revenue was higher by 38.18% to RM5.82 billion from RM4.21 billion. The leisure and hospitality segment recorded a better profit before tax of RM1.6 billion, a 68% increase from RM955 million a year before, as revenue expanded 43% to RM4.78 billion from RM3.33 billion during the same period.  

Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM)’s net loss narrowed 69.29% to RM27.38 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, from RM126.53 million a year earlier, boosted by improved contribution from its leisure and hospitality segment. The higher earnings were also helped by lower finance costs, which stood at RM148.43 million, versus RM169.54 million previously. The quarterly result was partly offset by a 172.72% increase in tax expenses at RM86.7 million from RM31.79 million previously, and due to recognition of impairment losses on other receivables in the US amounting to RM3.5 million.  

Sime Darby Property Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 rose 17% to RM60.67 million from RM51.84 million previously, mainly contributed by its property development segment. The developer said revenue for the quarter rose 43% to RM685.33 million from RM480.33 million.

YTL Corp Bhd’s net profit was flat at RM414.14 million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 from RM414.61 million a year before. Nonetheless, the conglomerate reported a profit before tax of RM815.8 million for the quarter compared to a loss of RM99.7 million, after adjusting for the one-off gain of RM1.02 billion from the disposal of its investment in electricity transmission specialist ElectraNet Pty Ltd in Australia, which was partially offset by project development costs written off, allowance for impairment of intangible assets recorded last year, and a contribution to a corporate social responsibility programme. Quarterly revenue, meanwhile, increased by 18.77% to RM7.33 billion from RM6.17 billion due to increased revenue contribution from all its business segments.

YTL Power International Bhd’s net profit declined 48.56% to RM519.64 million or 6.41 sen per share in the third quarter ended March 31, 2023, from RM1.01 billion or 12.47 sen in the previous year, in the absence of gain on disposal of its Australian investment. Its quarterly revenue, in contrast, rose 15.28% to RM5.34 billion from RM4.65 billion, but this was offset by water sewage and telecommunication segments. Revenue from the investment holding activities surged 94.4% to RM132.51 million from RM67.98 million on higher interest income, while the power generation segment recorded a 19.3% rise in revenue to RM4.12 billion from RM3.45 billion due to higher retail prices.  

Lower loading volume across all business segments resulted in Inari Amertron Bhd registering a 36.6% drop in net profit to RM57.36 million for the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 against RM90.48 million in the same period last year. Quarterly revenue came down 23.5% to RM275.8 million from RM360.34 million. The group proposed a 1.4 sen dividend, to be payable on July 7.

Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd posted a flat net profit at RM108.73 million or earnings per share of 40.3 sen for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) from RM106.38 million or 39.4 sen per share. This was due to the fall in crude oil prices though stable demand helped to cushion the decline. Quarterly revenue sustained at RM3.82 billion compared with RM3.8 billion a year before, buoyed by higher domestic sales volume.

Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd’s net profit slipped 67.52% to RM50.77 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) against RM156.3 million in the same quarter a year earlier (1QFY2022), due to lower revenue reported by its business segments. Nevertheless, the group announced its first interim dividend of 10 sen per share, payable on June 22. Its ex-date falls on June 8. Quarterly revenue fell by 3.63% to RM1.59 billion from RM1.65 billion, as its declining revenue came from the plantation, property and trading divisions.

Axiata Group Bhd returned to the black for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) with a RM73.85 million net profit versus a RM42.97 million net loss a year earlier, driven by higher share of results from associates, mainly CelcomDigi Bhd, as well as lower taxes and foreign exchange (forex) losses. Quarterly revenue grew 7.92% to RM5.38 billion from RM4.98 billion in 1QFY2022, mainly contributed by its mobile operations in Indonesia and Cambodia, infrastructure business and new revenue segment from fixed broadband in Indonesia.

Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd’s net profit fell 58.58% to RM8.52 million or earnings per share of 13.3 sen in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023), from RM20.57 million or 32.1 sen in the same quarter last year, as it was hit by the unprecedented increase in the cost of dairy raw materials and negative impacts of exchange rates predominantly against the US dollar, despite higher revenue in the current quarter. Quarterly net profit was also dragged down by RM5.1 million accelerated depreciation and transition one-off costs from its Petaling Jaya factory, the dairy product manufacturer said in a bourse filing. Quarterly revenue grew 18.16% year-on-year to RM354.31 million from RM299.87 million, driven by continued strong demand for dairy products and successful festive campaigns.

Velesto Energy Bhd returned to profitability in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) with a net profit of RM14.22 million or 0.17 sen per share, from a net loss of RM46.2 million or 0.56 sen per share a year ago. Its turnaround was in line with its revenue quadrupling to RM287.51 million from RM77.41 million in 1QFY2022, thanks to higher average jack-up rigs utilisation and higher average charter rates under its drilling services segment, as well as more progress for the i-RDC project under its integrated services segment during the quarter.

Hextar Industries Bhd (HIB) posted a net profit of RM20.42 million or 0.74 sen per share on revenue of RM269.43 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023). In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, HIB said that its quarterly earnings performance was mainly driven by higher gross profit margin achieved in its fertilisers division. It noted that the better result was reflected from the group’s consolidation of Hextar Fertilizers Ltd and its subsidiary companies, HFL Group, into the HIB Group.

Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) posted a net profit of RM4.05 million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 (3QFY2023) versus a net loss of RM7.44 million a year earlier, on the back of higher revenue. The group registered earnings per share of 0.08 sen, against a loss per share of 0.15 sen previously. Revenue rose mildly to RM1.93 billion from RM1.91 billion in 3QFY2022 amid higher overall occupancy and average room rates from its hotels and business segment.

MBM Resources Bhd posted a 10.45% drop in net profit to RM79.96 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023), from RM89.28 million a year ago, despite higher revenue due to the inclusion of a non-operating gain previously. Quarterly revenue rose 16.15% to RM555.79 million from RM478.51 million, driven by both the motor trading and auto parts manufacturing divisions.

7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s (SEM) net profit fell 35.69% to RM15.68 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) against RM24.38 million in the same quarter a year earlier (1QFY2022) due to lower profit from its pharmaceutical segment. However, revenue for 1QFY2023 rose by 16.3% to RM976.92 million compared with RM839.98 million in 1QFY2023 on better performance by its convenience store segment.

Revenue Group Bhd posted a net loss of RM9.36 million for the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 (3QFY2023) from a net profit of RM4.66 million a year earlier, on lower revenue from its business activities. This is the group's third consecutive quarterly net loss. Revenue Group said the lower revenue from its business segment was unable to cover the group’s fixed operating cost coupled with higher administrative expenses, finance costs and share of loss of results of associates. Quarterly revenue declined 55.78% to RM10.1 million from RM22.84 million.

Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) saw its net profit increase by 27.3% to RM74.13 million or 1.03 sen per share in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, from RM58.21 million or 0.81 sen per share a year ago, mainly due to lower expected credit losses and lower operating expenditure. Quarterly revenue rose marginally to RM665.49 million from RM664.55 million. MBSB said total assets stood at RM55.3 billion compared with RM54.9 billion in the preceding quarter, mainly driven by a net financing growth of RM600 million and financial investments by RM300 million, which was then netted off by a decrease in the cash and short-term portfolio by RM600 million.

MCT Bhd returned to profitability in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 with net profit RM136,000 versus net loss RM12.19 million a year earlier, on the back of higher property sales. In a bourse filing, the developer said revenue for the quarter jumped by almost twofold to RM76.6 million, from RM38.6 million.

Bumi Armada Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 rose 8.2% to RM201.01 million from RM185.76 million earlier, mainly due to higher operating income. In a bourse filing, the company said revenue for the quarter increased to RM543.99 million versus RM529 million, due to higher revenue from engineering services.

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