Genting, GENM, PetChem, Hap Seng, IJM, Maxis, Pentamaster, Petron, QL Resources, Sarawak Oil Palms, Sime Darby Property, TNB, UOA Development, ViTrox and WCT

Genting, GENM, PetChem, Hap Seng, IJM, Maxis, Pentamaster, Petron, QL Resources, Sarawak Oil Palms, Sime Darby Property, TNB, UOA Development, ViTrox and WCT

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): Based on corporate announcements and news flow on Thursday (Feb 24), companies that may be in focus on Friday (Feb 25) include Genting Bhd, Genting Malaysia Bhd (GENM), Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem), Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd, IJM Corp Bhd, Maxis Bhd, Pentamaster Corp Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd, QL Resources Bhd, Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB), UOA Development Bhd, ViTrox Corp Bhd and WCT Holdings Bhd.

Genting Bhd slipped into the red in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21), posting a net loss of RM129.81 million — its fourth straight quarterly loss — compared to a net profit of RM24.98 million a year ago, on higher depreciation and net finance costs arising mainly from Resorts World Las Vegas’ commencement of operations.

This was despite its quarterly revenue up 58.7% to RM4.84 billion from RM3.05 billion in 4QFY20, on contribution from its leisure and hospitality, plantation and property divisions.

Nevertheless, the group declared a first and final interim dividend of 11 sen per share for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21), payable on April 8.

Genting Bhd’s subsidiary, Genting Malaysia Bhd (GENM) saw its fortunes reverse in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21). The casino operator posted a net profit of RM174.12 million compared to a net loss of RM240.85 million a year ago.

Quarterly revenue soared 81.5% year-on-year to RM1.89 billion from RM1.04 billion in 4QFY20. GENM also declared a special dividend of nine sen per share for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21), payable on March 31.

Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd (PetChem) closed its financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) with a record annual profit of RM7.35 billion, driven by a surge in petrochemical prices throughout the year and healthy demand. The petrochemical group’s net profit leapt four times to RM2.06 billion for its fourth quarter (4QFY21), which is also a record-breaking quarter compared with RM466 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

The group’s annual revenue expanded 60.32% to RM23.03 billion from RM14.36 billion previously — with 4QFY21 revenue rising almost 82% to RM6.98 billion from RM3.84 billion — supported by high plant utilisation of 93%, despite several statutory turnaround and maintenance activities undertaken during the year.

It declared a second interim dividend of 23 sen per share that amounts to RM1.8 billion, payable on March 25, compared with seven sen in 4QFY20. The latest dividend will bring PetChem’s total dividend for FY21 to 56 sen, almost five times the 12 sen it paid for FY20.

Hap Seng Consolidated Bhd’s net profit jumped to RM900.43 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) from RM750.18 million in the same period a year earlier.

For the fourth quarter, Hap Seng recorded a net profit of RM300.53 million compared with RM351.99 million a year earlier, mainly due to a reversal of certain deferred tax assets, while revenue went up to RM1.84 billion from RM1.72 billion due to higher revenue from the plantation, trading and building materials divisions.

IJM Corp Bhd saw a 32.7% drop in net profit to RM98.44 million for its third financial quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (3QFY22) from RM146.34 million a year ago, largely due to lower revenue contribution from its construction and property development segments. Quarterly revenue for the period under review fell by 12% to RM1.27 billion from RM1.44 billion a year ago.

Maxis Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 fell 9.4% year-on-year to RM289 million from RM319 million, due to higher depreciation and amortisation charges.

Maxis said its quarterly revenue went up to RM2.45 billion from RM2.26 billion previously. Maxis declared a fourth interim dividend of four sen per share and special interim dividend of one sen, to be paid on March 31.

MISC Bhd’s wholly-owned unit MISC Capital Two (Labuan) Ltd has lodged with the Securities Commission Malaysia the relevant information and documents in respect of the issuance of its Global Medium Term Notes (GMTN) programme of up to US$3 billion (about RM12.57 billion) in nominal value.

MISC said the GMTN programme would provide the group the flexibility to raise medium-term to long-term funding to meet its business funding requirements as and when required, including capital structure optimisation, general capital expenditure, working capital and refinancing existing borrowings.

Pentamaster Corp Bhd said its net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) fell nearly 11% to RM19.65 million from RM22.07 million a year ago, despite stronger revenue growth.

The group’s quarterly revenue, however, grew 11.13% to RM122.49 million from RM110.22 million a year ago. The company recommended a final single-tier dividend of two sen for the quarter under review, amounting to approximately RM14.2 million in respect of FY21.

Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd leapt to full-year net profit of RM238.47 million in financial year Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) from a net loss of RM13.32 million a year earlier as the fuel retailer’s net profit and revenue for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) rose year-on-year due to improved sales volume and higher prices as domestic demand grew, helped by Malaysia’s Covid-19 vaccine-driven National Recovery Plan.

Petron said the company has proposed a dividend of 20 sen a share for FY21, compared with five sen a share a year earlier. For 4QFY21, Petron Malaysia said net profit was higher at RM60.53 million from RM42.02 million a year earlier as revenue jumped to RM2.96 billion from RM1.51 billion.

QL Resources Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (3QFY22) declined by 21.7% to RM59.79 million from RM76.33 million due to compressed margins in its marine product manufacturing (MPM) and integrated livestock farming (ILF) segments. The group’s revenue, however, grew by 26% to RM1.4 billion from RM1.11 billion due to increases in sales across all of its business segments.

Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd reported a 10-fold jump in net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) to RM208.35 million from RM20.74 million in the corresponding quarter a year prior, underpinned by higher average realised prices of palm products sold. Quarterly revenue grew 66% to RM1.39 billion from RM839.58 million.

For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21), Sime Darby Property Bhd reported a net profit of RM72.19 million compared to a net loss of RM56.64 million a year ago upon resumption of site progress in the group’s property development segment as Covid-19 pandemic-driven movement restrictions eased.

For 4QFY21, Sime Darby Property said its quarterly revenue grew to RM739.37 million from RM705.19 million a year earlier.

The property group reported an annual net profit of RM136.9 million in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21) from a net loss of RM501.57 million a year earlier. Its annual revenue was up at RM2.22 billion from RM2.06 billion a year earlier.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) tumbled 27.6% to RM877.8 million from RM1.21 billion in the same period of the previous year, as the group contended with higher tax expenses and unfavourable foreign exchange rates, while operating expenses jumped due to higher fuel prices.

The decline in earnings, which pulled earnings per share down to 15.35 sen from 21.27 sen, came despite a 52.4% growth on revenue to RM15.74 billion from RM10.32 billion on higher sales of electricity, which was mainly due to the under-recovery position of Imbalance Cost Pass-Through (ICPT) amounting to RM3.21 billion as opposed to the over-recovery position of RM1.56 billion previously.

The utility group declared a final dividend of 18 sen per share for FY21, totalling RM1.03 billion, to be paid on a date to be fixed.

UOA Development Bhd’s fourth quarter net profit more than doubled to RM98.86 million from RM34.96 million a year earlier, partly helped by an RM92.37 million property revaluation surplus registered during the quarter.

According to the property developer, revenue dropped to RM136.45 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) from RM194.11 million. UOA Development said its board has recommended for 4QFY21, a first and final dividend of 10 sen a share.

ViTrox Corp Bhd’s net profit for the quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21) jumped 44.5% to RM46.12 million from RM31.92 million in 4QFY20, as the automated vision inspection developer continued to enjoy higher sales, coupled with the strengthening of the US dollar in the period.

ViTrox reported a 16.2% increase in quarterly revenue to RM185.75 million from RM159.79 million, thanks to favourable sales demand from the Automated Board Inspection and the Machine Vision System segments, it said.

WCT Holdings Bhd returned to profitability in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021 (FY21), with a net profit of RM97.3 million compared to a net loss of RM213.57 million in 2020. Revenue grew to RM1.75 billion from RM1.7 billion previously.

For the fourth quarter of FY21, the group posted a net profit of RM51 million versus a net loss of RM222.81 million a year earlier, but revenue was lower at RM420.99 million compared with RM543.1 million previously.

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/genting-genm-petchem-hap-seng-ijm-maxis-pentamaster-petron-ql-resources-sarawak-oil-palms