Business & Markets 2014
Written by Ho Wah Foon of theedgemalaysia.com
Tuesday, 25 February 2014 20:10
KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 25): From the flood of corporate results seen today, some of the companies that may be in focus tomorrow include:
UEM Sunrise Bhd reported a 61% year-on-year drop in net profit to RM78.0 million for its fourth quarter, from RM201.3 million previously. Revenue for the quarter declined 16% to RM573.1 million.
Full-year net profit for 2013 was higher at RM579.1 million versus RM448.4 million in 2012, while revenue increased to RM2.43 billion from RM1.92 billion.
Going forward, the group is optimistic that its performance for 2014 will surpass that of 2013, despite the current challenging property market.
CIMB Group Holdings Bhd, Malaysia's second-largest bank, logged record full-year earnings but posted a 4.6 percent drop in net profit for the quarter ended in December, Reuters reported.
The group announced a second interim dividend of 11.0 sen in the form of cash or an optional dividend reinvestment scheme. For FY13, the total dividends amounted to 23.82 sen.
Full-year profit climbed 4.5 percent to a record 4.5 billion ringgit ($1.4 billion) on stronger contributions from regional consumer and corporate banking, CIMB said in an earnings statement issued on Tuesday.
Quarterly net profit came in at 1.03 billion ringgit, a tad lower than 1.08 billion ringgit a year ago but above the average prediction of 861 million ringgit from three analysts in a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S poll.
"The 2013 operating environment was far more challenging than expected, especially in Indonesia and regional financial markets, so we are pleased with our overall profit," CIMB said.
Lafarge Malaysia Bhd declared a fourth interim single tier dividend of 17sen/share after its fourth quarter net profit rose 22.7% year-on-year to RM129.74 million, on the back of an increased revenue of RM750.57 million.
For the full year of 2013, the cement manufacturer’s net profit rose to RM385.70 million from RM349.00 million in 2012. Revenue also rose to RM2.85 billion, from RM2.74 billion.
AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) was RM131 million in the red on foreign exchange (forex) losses in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2013, from a profit of RM14 million a year ago.
Despite the disappointing bottom line, revenue jumped 26% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM680 million from RM539 million.
The international budget airline said the stronger US dollar against the ringgit in 2013 had resulted in forex losses of RM112.4 million.
For the full-year period, net loss recorded was RM87 million versus a profit of RM34 million in the previous year, while revenue registered RM2.31 billion from RM1.97 billion a year ago.
Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) suffered a pre-tax loss of RM110.37 million for financial year ended Dec 31, 2013 (FY13), compared with a pre-tax profit of RM134 million in 2012.
Revenue slipped to RM940.91 million, from RM1.28 billion previously, Bernama reported.
For the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2012, its pre-tax profit fell to RM19.32 million, from RM32.42 million in the same quarter of 2012. Revenue rose to RM369 million, from RM303.08 million previously.
Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd (HLFG) reported a 4% fall in second quarter net profit from a year earlier due to lower net interest and net Islamic income, as the group made provisions for bad loans.
HLFG said net profit fell to RM411.8 million in the second quarter ended December 31, 2013 (2QFY14) from RM430.9 million. Revenue, however, rose to RM1.18 billion from RM1.16 billion.
Hong Leong Capital Bhd, a unit of HLFG, reported net profit of RM22.71 million for its second quarter to December 2013, soaring 154% from RM8.93 million in previous corresponding quarter.
Revenue for the quarter rose 2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM67.15 from RM64.75 million.
HLFG’s unit, Hong Leong Bank Bhd, reported that its second quarter net profit rose 2.4% to RM520.3 million, from RM508.0 million in the previous corresponding quarter.
Revenue for 2QFY14 was RM1.06 billion, up 6% from RM1.00 billion in 2QFY13.
The company declared an interim single-tier dividend of 15 sen per share, going ex on 11 Mar 2014 and payable on 27 Mar 2014.
IOI Corporation Bhd’s net profit for its second quarter fell 8.3% to RM487.1 million from RM531.0 million in the previous year’s same quarter.
Its revenue for the quarter also declined 9.5% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM2.94 billion from RM3.25 billion.
The group attributed its lower net profit for the quarter to a translation loss of RM14.0 million on foreign currency denominated borrowings.
For its half year to December, net profit was lower at RM788.9 million from RM1.14 billion in 6MFY13, while revenue decreased slightly to RM6.18 billion from RM6.38 billion.
A dividend of 8 sen per share was declared by IOI, to be paid on 21 Mar 2014.
Sarawak Oil Palms Bhd (SOP) reported a 63% year-on-year (y-o-y) rise in net profit to RM36.5 million from RM22.3 million.
Revenue was up 28% at RM491.5 million for 4QFY13 compared with RM383.8 million in 4QFY12.
However, net profit for the year decreased to RM97.3 million from RM156.8 million in the previous year, while revenue increased to RM1.70 billion from RM1.31 billion.
Looking ahead, the group said its performance would depend on the movement of crude palm oil (CPO) prices, the fluctuation of the ringgit and also the economic situation.
Magnum Bhd’s net profit for the fourth quarter ended 31st December 2013 rose to RM56.08 million from RM48.95 million in a similar quarter a year ago.
Revenue for the quarter rose to RM741.20 million from RM740.62 million in the previous year's corresponding period.
Net profit for the full-year fell to RM270.95 million from RM339.67 million. Full-year cumulative revenue fell to RM2.99 billion from RM3.09 billion.
The company will pay a dividend of 5 sen/share.
JT International Bhd said its net profit for fourth quarter to December 2013 soared 573% year-on-year to RM20.15 million, from RM2.99 million in similar quarter a year ago.
Revenue rose to RM330.83 million as compared with RM290.0 million for the same period last year.
Its profit was higher due to increased net margins and better product mix. In addition, a one-time restructuring charge of RM12.2 million was incurred in the same period last year.
For the full year, the group achieved revenue of RM1273.3 million as compared with revenue of RM1234.3 million in 2012. Total net profit stood at RM121.63 million, up from RM101.31 million.
For 2014, JTI expects the operating environment to remain “extremely challenging”, primarily due to the 14% excise increase in October 2013 and the continued prevalence of illegal cigarettes at 35.7% of the market.
LBS Bina Group Bhd is confident of achieving RM1 billion in sales this year, up from RM620 million in 2013, with projects worth RM3.8 billion scheduled for launch, said managing director Datuk Seri Lim Hock San.
The property developer plans to launch the projects this year and in 2015. Some of the projects are located in the Klang Valley, Johor Baharu and Pahang and includes 18 of its ongoing ventures worth RM1.6 billion.
Matrix Concepts Holdings Bhd’s net profit for the 4th quarter ended 31st December 2013 was at RM40.66 million due to the sales of residential properties, especially the Hidayu 3D development project.
Revenue for the quarter was RM144.34 million
Total profit for the full-year was RM152.89 million, while cumulative revenue was RM574.66 million. The company announced a dividend of 5 sen per share.
TSH Resources Bhd reported only a marginal rise in net profit for its fourth quarter, but the company declared an interim dividend of 3.5 sen per share.
Its net profit for the final quarter of 2013 stood at RM32.7 million versus RM31.0 million in similar quarter in 2012; while revenue rose to RM278.1 million from RM216.8 million a year ago.
Total profit for the full year jumped to RM153.1 million from RM77.0 million in 2012, while total revenue rose to RM1.02 billion from RM983.7 million.
CB Industrial Product Holding Bhd saw its earnings for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2013 surged 58% y-o-y to RM38.7 million from RM24.5 million.
This was achieved on revenue that was flattish, at RM150 million, compared to a year ago.