Maybank, Sime Darby Plantation, Sime Darby, CelcomDigi, KLK, Batu Kawan, Serba Dinamik, MISC, Sunway, Media Prima, Genting Plantations, Hap Seng Plantations, Hibiscus, Matrix Concepts, Mega First, Bintai Kinden and Iris Corp

Maybank, Sime Darby Plantation, Sime Darby, CelcomDigi, KLK, Batu Kawan, Serba Dinamik, MISC, Sunway, Media Prima, Genting Plantations, Hap Seng Plantations, Hibiscus, Matrix Concepts, Mega First, Bintai Kinden and Iris Corp

KUALA LUMPUR (May 24): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Wednesday (May 24): Malayan Banking Bhd, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, Sime Darby Bhd, CelcomDigi Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Batu Kawan Bhd, Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, MISC Bhd, Sunway Bhd, Media Prima Bhd, Genting Plantations Bhd, Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd, Mega First Corp Bhd, Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd, Revenue Group Bhd and Iris Corp Bhd.

Malayan Banking Bhd's (Maybank) net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 rose 10.7% to RM2.27 billion from RM2.05 billion a year earlier, driven by continued improvement in asset quality as well as treasury and market gains that supported the group’s net operating income. It said revenue for the quarter rose to RM14.78 billion versus RM11.42 billion previously. Earnings per share was 18.79 sen against 17.23 sen a year earlier. It did not declare any dividend for the quarter.

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd posted RM69 million net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023), a 90.4% drop from RM718 million recorded a year earlier. Earnings per share was one sen, lower than 10.4 sen in 1QFY2022. Revenue decreased 7.12% to RM4.07 billion from RM4.38 billion. The group said the lower earnings was mainly attributable to lower average realised crude palm oil and palm kernel prices, lower fresh fruit bunches production as well as higher finance costs with increased benchmark interest rates.

Sime Darby Bhd’s net profit for the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 dipped 1.6% year-on-year to RM240 million from RM244 million, due to lower profit from its motors business in China and higher finance costs. Quarterly revenue rose to RM11.53 billion from RM10.52 billion previously. Earnings per share slipped to 3.5 sen from 3.6 sen. It did not declare any dividend for the quarter. For the nine months ended March 31, Sime Darby’s net profit rose to RM836 million from RM825 million on the back of revenue of RM35 billion versus RM31.65 billion.

CelcomDigi Bhd posted a higher net profit of 34.63% at RM317.92 million in 1QFY2023 from RM236.15 million last year, owing to improved revenue contributions and foreign exchange gains, offset by the effects of accelerated depreciation of non-cash items. Revenue increased 109.21% to RM3.18 billion versus RM1.52 billion, primarily from higher device sales on newly launched smartphone models, enlarged subscriber base and stable average revenue per user at RM42. It declared a first interim dividend of 3.2 sen, payable on June 28. This first quarter marked CelcomDigi's first full quarter of combined financial reporting post-merger of two telcos: Celcom Axiata Bhd and Digi.Com Bhd.

Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd's (KLK) net profit declined 65.09% to RM190.81 million for 2QFY2023 from RM546.57 million mainly due to losses from an associate and lower contribution from the plantation and manufacturing segments. Revenue dropped 5.26% to RM6.05 billion from RM6.38 billion on lower crude palm oil and palm kernel prices.

Notably, during the quarter under review, it booked an equity loss of RM169.7 million (2QFY2022: share of equity profit RM10.1 million) from an overseas associate, Synthomer plc. Nonetheless, KLK declared an interim dividend of 20 sen, will be paid on Aug 1.

Its parent company, Batu Kawan Bhd also posted lower net profit of RM120.05 million in 2QFY2023 against RM316.54 million last year, owing to lower contribution from its plantation and manufacturing segments. The group has warned that the second half is projected to be "significantly weaker" than the corresponding period last year on the back of waning consumer demand. Revenue shrank by 5.11% to RM6.31 billion from RM6.65 billion. It declared an interim dividend of 20 sen per share, payable on Aug 3.

Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd has defaulted on its payment for term equity and financing facilities totalling RM14.6 million provided by Public Bank Bhd and Public Islamic Bank Bhd. The default by the group's major subsidiary, Serba Dinamik Sdn Bhd (SDSB), was due to cash flows constraint in settling the outstanding payments to the two banks, said Serba Dinamik. “The company shall endeavour to continue its business and operations despite the default," said the group, adding that it is undertaking several restructuring and cost-cutting measures together with the liquidator in an effort to reduce the cash outflows and improve cash inflows.

MISC Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) improved 62.83% to RM612.9 million or 13.7 sen per share from RM376.4 million or 8.4 sen per share a year earlier, owing mainly to its petroleum and product shipping segment, as well as higher share of profit from joint ventures (JVs). Revenue increased 7.36% to RM3.08 billion from RM2.87 billion in the prior year. It declared a first interim dividend of seven sen per share, to be paid on June 22.

Higher contributions from property investment and healthcare segments lifted Sunway Bhd’s first quarter net profit by 3.76% to RM141.64 million from RM136.51 million a year ago. This more than offset the lower profit contributions from the other business segments. Quarterly revenue rose to RM1.26 billion, up 13.6% from RM1.11 billion in 1QFY2022 driven by higher contributions from all business segments except construction and others segments.

Media Prima Bhd posted a net profit of RM3.9 million for the three months ended March 31, 2023, on the back of RM210.84 million in revenue. The media group had changed its financial year end to June 30, from Dec 31, hence there is no comparative financial information for the latest quarter. However, it compared its performance against the immediate preceding quarter ended Dec 31, 2022, noting that revenue had declined 17% from RM252.7 million due to the softer advertising market that had affected its media platforms.

Genting Plantations Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) fell 66.73% to RM38.81 million or 4.33 sen per share from RM116.64 million or 13 sen per share a year ago, as cost of sales spiked. Revenue increased slightly to RM584.25 million during the quarter from RM530.43 million in 1QFY2022, thanks to higher sales volume reported by its downstream manufacturing segment, which offset the lower palm product prices. "Although FFB [fresh fruit bunch] production in 1Q2023 has shown some recovery compared with the previous year, the group's operations in several regions were still adversely affected by the third consecutive year of La Nina, while replanting activities continued to be carried out extensively in Malaysia," it said.

Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Bhd saw its net profit for 1QFY2023 decline by 77% to RM23.42 million from RM101.67 million, affected by lower revenue and other operating income as well as the absence of a gain on disposal of assets. Notably, the last corresponding quarter ended March 31, 2022, included the gain on disposal of assets held for sale of RM18.8 million. Its revenue decreased by 34% in 1Q to RM159.93 million from RM242.15 million a year ago, dragged by lower average selling price of all palm products despite the sales volume and production of crude palm oil and palm kernel were above 1Q2022.

Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd posted a net profit of RM71.51 million or 3.55 sen per share in the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 (3QFY2023), down 76.7% from RM307.54 million or 15.32 sen last year due to higher expenses, including deferred taxation, and absence of negative goodwill. Notably, there was negative goodwill from business combination amounting to RM317.3 million in 3QFY2022). Revenue almost doubled to RM523.34 million from RM297.06 million. The group declared an interim  dividend of 0.75 sen.

Property developer Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd saw its net profit slip 7.4% to RM56.56 million in its fourth financial quarter ended March 31, 2023, from RM61.08 million a year earlier, due to the recognition of lower margin contributions from its Klang Valley development, as well as reduced revenue contribution from its industrial properties. Quarterly revenue, however, rose 20.5% to RM302.21 million, from RM250.81 million, driven by a 20.4% year-on-year increase in contribution from the group’s property development division to RM291.7 million.

Mega First Corp Bhd saw its net profit fall by 13.26% to RM70.55 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 from RM81.34 million a year earlier due to lower contribution from its packaging segment. Quarterly revenue, meanwhile, increased 27.52% to RM347.35 million versus RM272.38 million due to higher contributions from its renewable energy, packaging and resources divisions in the current quarter.

Mechanical and electrical engineering services specialist Bintai Kinden Corp Bhd said it will be initiating an internal investigation into the conduct of "certain directors" as well as the trading activities of the company. However, it did not identify the directors who will be investigated. "The scope of the investigation is set to include, but not be limited to, examining unauthorised trading of shares, potential insider trading, involvement of other directors or former company secretary, and the overall effectiveness of our corporate governance controls," it said. The Practice Note 17 company added that it has engaged an independent party to conduct the investigation.

Danny Leong Kah Chern has relinquished his role as Revenue Group Bhd's group chief executive officer, after assuming the position for about five months. He will continue to serve the group as its advisor effective May 24, the payment solution provider said.  Kah Chern had submitted his resignation letter in March, but the group announced at that time that its board had asked him to reconsider his decision.

Iris Corp Bhd’s contract to provide the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) to the government has been extended by 12 months, from Sept 1, 2025 till Aug 31, 2026. The NIISE contract worth RM1.16 billion was awarded to IITS in Jan 2021, for a period of 54 months commencing from March 1, 2021 until Aug 31, 2025.

https://theedgemalaysia.com/node/668447