KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 30): Boustead Holdings Bhd's net profit gained sevenfold in its third quarter of the financial year 2016 (FY16) due to a gain on disposal of Jendela Hikmat Sdn Bhd and sale of lands.

Net profit for the quarter ended Sept 30, 2016 (3QFY16), came in at RM44 million or 2.17 sen per share from RM6 million or 0.37 sen per share in the same quarter last year.

Revenue, however, slipped 5% to RM2.02 billion from RM2.12 billion previously, its bourse filing today showed.

Boustead declared a third interim dividend of 5 sen per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2016 (FY16), payable on Dec 22. This brings its cumulative dividend announced to date to 14 sen from 16 sen previously.

Net profit for the cumulative nine-month period spiked near 28 times to RM248 million from RM9 million in the previous year, though revenue dipped 4% to RM5.95 billion from RM6.22 billion.

The group said its plantation division saw higher gain on disposal of lands of RM117.8 million compared to RM57.2 million a year earlier, while better palm product prices had also supported the segment during the period.

"For the nine-month period, crude palm oil (CPO) registered an average price of RM2,475 per MT, an increase of RM315 or 15% against last year's corresponding period's average of RM2,160 per tonne.

"Palm kernel (PK) also achieved a better average price of RM2,295 per tonne, up by RM790 or 52% as compared to last year's corresponding period's average price of RM1,505 per tonne," it said.

Its property division, meanwhile, saw a gain on disposal of its associate Jendela Hikmat of RM198.3 million. However, the division still reported lower pre-tax profit, dragged by weaker performance of its hotel segment and unrealised foreign exchange (forex) loss.

Its pharmaceutical division also posted lower profitability amid weaker operating profit and higher finance cost, while its finance and investment division saw better performance on improved contribution from Affin Group.

Meanwhile, its heavy industries division saw losses widen to RM133.9 million from RM31.6 million a year ago due to deficits incurred by Boustead Naval Shipyard and MHS Aviation.

The group expects the remainder of the year to continue to be challenging amid the prevailing uncertainties in the global economy and capital market volatility.

Nevertheless, Boustead expects its diversified nature to augur well for the group going forward.

At 3.11pm, Boustead rose 1 sen or 0.46% to RM2.19 with 242,700 shares traded. It has a market capitalisation of RM4.36 billion. — theedgemarkets.com

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