KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Power International Bhd's pre-tax profit for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2012 rose to RM314.347 million from RM297.801 million in the corresponding quarter last year.
In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, YTL Power said its revenue for the three months increased to RM4.179 billion from RM3.635 billion.
On the performance of the units within the group, YTL Power said profit and revenue from power generation (contracted) decreased principally due to scheduled plant maintenance carried out in the current quarter.
The pre-tax profit from power generation fell to RM51.155 million from RM86.103 million while revenue dropped to RM263.273 million from RM275.022 million.
The multi utilities business (merchant) segment pre-tax profit fell to RM203.226 million from RM215.057 million due to higher fuel costs incurred, although revenue rose to RM3.163 billion from RM2.749 billion due to the higher sales volume achieved, it said.
Meanwhile, pre-tax profit from the water & sewerage business dropped to RM146.027 million from RM177.248 million as a result of higher operating costs due to inflationary pressure and higher deprecation charged for the period, it said.
However, revenue rose to RM632.633 million from RM573.967 million due to the increase in price agreed by the regulators.
It said the mobile broadband network pre-tax loss fell to RM60.728 million from RM94.944 million due to increase in revenue to RM101.713 million from RM12.916 million as a result of the continuous growth in its subscriber base.
Meanwhile, investment holding activities saw pre-tax loss fall to RM25.333 million from RM85.663 million although revenue fell to RM18.729 million from RM24.456 million.
It said revenue decreased following reduction in dividend income and the increase in share of profit of associate cushioned the loss before taxation.
On prospects, YTL Power expects power generation (contracted) to perform satisfactorily as it operates under a regulatory regime.
On the multi utilities business (merchant), it said the increase in generation capacity into the electricity market of Singapore would add pressure to both margin and sales volume for the current financial year.
Nevertheless, this segment would continue to strive to diversify beyond their core business into integrated multi-utilities energy platform with a focus on customer service.
On the water & sewerage business, YTL Power said it operates under a strict regulatory regime, has met all of its regulatory targets, and is top of the regulator’s league table for customer service.
Hence, the management is confident of delivering its 2010-15 regulatory outperformance target, it said.
The company has a long-term planning horizon to ensure that water resources, are going to be available, it added.
As for the mobile broadband network, it said despite the challenging market in the telecommunications industry, this business segment is expected to continuously grow its subscriber base to generate higher revenue by introducing improved and innovative services to the market. -- BERNAMA