Boustead, Bahvest, Axiata, RHB, Affin, TNB, MSM, Malakoff, IOI Properties, UMW, DRB-Hicom, OSK, Bintai Kinden, AME Elite, Datasoni, Top Builders, CTOS and Sapura

 Boustead, Bahvest, Axiata, RHB, Affin, TNB, MSM, Malakoff, IOI Properties, UMW, DRB-Hicom, OSK, Bintai Kinden, AME Elite, Datasoni, Top Builders, CTOS and Sapura

KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Friday (May 26): Boustead Holdings Bhd, Bahvest Resources Bhd, Axiata Group Bhd, RHB Bank Bhd, Affin Bank Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, MSM Malaysia Bhd, Malakoff Corp Bhd, IOI Properties Group Bhd, UMW Holdings Bhd, DRB-Hicom Bhd, OSK Holdings Bhd, Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd, AME Elite Consortium Bhd, Datasonic Group Bhd, Top Builders Capital Bhd, CTOS Digital Bhd and Sapura Energy Bhd.

Boustead Holding Bhd announced that its 68.85%-owned subsidiary, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, has inked a sixth supplemental contract with the government with regard to the construction of littoral combat ships. It will build five combat vessels instead of six originally, and at a higher contract cost of RM11.2 billion.

Bahvest Resources Bhd said it is unable to submit its first quarter results by May 31 due to the recent raid by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) on the goldmine and business premises of its wholly-owned unit Wullersdorf Resources Sdn Bhd in Tawau, Sabah. MACC had raided its accounting records on May 16 and therefore Bahvest's finance team was unable to finalise the results for the quarter ended March 31, 2023 within two months as required by Bursa Securities. Bahvest, which is involved in a boardroom tussle, separately announced the appointment of three new directors. These were the individuals that five of the group's shareholders had wanted to be appointed to the board via an extraordinary general meeting which has since been called off.

Axiata Group Bhd expects a lower dividend of 10 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), impacted by the merger of Celcom Axiata Bhd and Digi.Com Bhd, which was completed in November last year. Axiata chief executive officer and managing director Vivek Sood said there will be merger-related costs that will affect the group’s profit share from the merger. “Celcom used to be a fairly large contributor to us when it comes to dividend, so we do expect dividend [for this year] to be impacted, because of consolidation. We expect at least to give a 10 sen dividend,” he said.

On its financial front, Axiata returned to the black for 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 losses. Quarterly revenue grew 7.92% to RM5.38 billion from RM4.98 billion, mainly contributed by its mobile operations in Indonesia and Cambodia, infrastructure business and new revenue segment from fixed broadband in Indonesia.

RHB Bank Bhd’s net profit rose 31% to RM761.67 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, from RM582.33 million a year ago, largely thanks to higher non-fund based income and lower expected credit loss. Revenue swelled 39.57% to RM3.92 billion from RM2.81 billion. Net interest margin for the quarter was 1.9% compared with 2.16% previously. RHB Bank’s gross loans and financing grew 6% year-on-year to RM213.4 billion, mainly supported by growth in mortgage, auto finance, small and medium-sized enterprises, and Singapore. Domestic loans and financing grew 4.7% y-o-y.

Affin Bank Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 rose 4.41% to RM148.98 million from RM142.69 million a year ago. Its earnings per share, however, slipped to 6.55 sen from 6.72 sen due to a larger share base and absence of discontinued operations. Quarterly revenue fell 6.53% to RM494.29 million from RM528.82 million. The group said net interest income stood at RM233.6 million, an increase of 2% compared to RM229 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher asset base.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd (TNB) has inked three Memoranda of Understanding with the major energy players in Vietnam and Laos to explore potential collaboration in renewable energy power generation. The two MOUs signed in Vietnam were between TNB Renewables Sdn Bhd  and Saigon Gia Dinh Electric Joint Stock Company and between TNB Repair and Maintenance Sdn Bhd and North Power Service Joint Stock Company. Meanwhile, the MOU in Laos was signed between TNB Genco and Electricite Du Laos.

MSM Malaysia Bhd’s net loss widened to RM35.88 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 from RM27.68 million in the same quarter last year, as a result of lower margins and higher operating costs. The group also faced higher production costs, owing to a weak ringgit and a 65% increase in gas cost, which resulted in higher refining costs. Quarterly revenue was down 1.26% to RM588.39 million from RM595.92 million, due to reduced export sales volume in order to prioritise local sales demand.

Malakoff Corp Bhd reported a net loss of RM99.1 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, from a net profit of RM27.48 million a year ago due to "substantial negative fuel margin" recorded at its Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd  and Tanjung Bin Energy Sdn Bhd power plants. Quarterly revenue rose 21.3% to RM2.28 billion from RM1.88 billion, thanks to higher energy repayments recorded from TBP and TBE, underpinned by higher applicable coal prices.

IOI Properties Group Bhd posted a 93.2% year-on-year jump in its net profit for the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 to RM115.38 million from RM59.72 million on lower taxation. Revenue declined 23.5% to RM564.67 million from RM737.39 million on lower performance from the property development segment mainly due to lower sales contribution from China’s operations, which were disrupted by the resurgence of Covid-19.

UMW Holdings Bhd’s net profit soared 32.85% to RM134.4 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, thanks to strong vehicle sales, higher than the RM101.21 million logged in the same quarter a year earlier. Quarterly revenue grew 20% to RM4.38 billion against RM3.65 billion, contributed primarily by its automotive segment.

DRB-Hicom Bhd registered a net profit of RM107.91 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, compared to a net loss of RM25.74 million a year ago, driven by higher earnings from its automotive sector. Quarterly revenue rose 33.69% to RM4.1 billion from RM3.07 billion on the back of the improved performance of the group’s automotive and banking sectors.

OSK Holdings Bhd registered a net profit of RM115.09 million, or earnings per share of 5.58 sen, in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023, a 36.3% increase from RM84.44 million or 4.09 sen per share a year before. The better quarterly earnings were due to its operating performance across all business segments showing improvement, underpinned by stronger consumer sentiment, recovering labour market conditions and the revival of tourism activities. Quarterly revenue rose 8.73% to RM333.2 million from RM306.46 million.

Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd has provided additional information to Bursa Malaysia regarding the group’s internal investigation into the conduct involving three former directors. The mechanical and electrical engineering services specialist revealed that there are three former directors involved in the investigation, but again it did not reveal their identities.

On the back of a RM66.51 million fair value gain on the disposal of industrial properties, AME Elite Consortium Bhd’s net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2023 swelled over two folds to RM103.52 million from RM48.56 million a year earlier. Revenue rose 45% to RM577.12 million versus RM398.39 million previously, underpinned by improved contributions across nearly all its segments. The group declared an interim dividend of three sen per share.

Datasonic Group Bhd wrapped up the financial year ended March 31, 2023 (FY2023) on a strong footing, with its net profit surging more than sevenfold to RM76.37 million against RM10.24 million a year ago. Annual revenue was the highest in history at RM344.71 million, up from RM136.43 million previously, driven by higher supply of passports, smart cards and personalisation services. In 4QFY2023, the security-related integrated ICT solutions provider saw its net profit jump 69.8% to RM22.7 million from RM13.37 million in the same quarter a year ago, on the back of RM104.9 million in revenue versus RM54.34 million previously. Datasonic has declared a fourth interim dividend of 0.75 sen per share, bringing the total dividend per share for FY2023 to 2 sen, translating into a dividend payout ratio of 74.2%.

Top Builders Capital Bhd's external auditor Kreston John & Gan has flagged significant doubts over the group's future in an audit of its financial statements for the financial year ended June 30, 2022 (FY2022). In its independent auditors' report, Kreston John & Gan said it was unable to obtain sufficient appropriate audit evidence regarding the feasibility of Top Builders' plan to regularise its financial condition by June 29. Top Builders had slipped into Practice Note 17 status on Dec 30, 2021.

CTOS Digital Bhd has redesignated its independent director Datuk Noorazman Abd Aziz as independent non-executive chairman, following the retirement of Tan Sri Izzuddin Dali. The redesignation took effect from May 26.

Sapura Energy Bhd has appointed a former top staff of Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MHB) and Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) into its boardroom, amid talks of merger between Sapura Energy and MHB — a unit of Petronas. The company announced that MHB’s former managing director and chief executive officer Wan Mashitah Wan Abdullah Sani has joined the board as an independent and non-executive director.

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