Cahya Mata Sarawak 4Q net profit falls by a third, proposes 8 sen dividend

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd's (CMSB) net profit fell 35.2% to RM65.8 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2017 (4QFY17) from RM101.51 million a year ago, mainly due to higher production cost of cement, provision for soil erosion remedial works and lower share of results of joint ventures.

The group also recorded foreign exchange losses in 4QFY17 compared with foreign exchange gain in 4QFY16.

This resulted in lower earnings per share of 6.12 sen in 4QFY17 compared with 9.45 sen in 4QFY16.

Quarterly revenue, however, was up 30.8% to RM588.19 million in 4QFY17 from RM449.54 million a year ago.

The group also proposed a first and final dividend of 8 sen per share for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2017 (FY17), subject to shareholders' approval at the forthcoming annual general meeting.

For FY17, CMSB posted a 27.2% increase in net profit to RM215.24 million from RM169.18 million a year ago, while revenue grew 3.6% to RM1.61 billion from RM1.55 billion in FY16.

In a statement, CMSB group chief executive officer of corporate Datuk Isaac Lugun said the group expects demand for construction materials and related services to remain sluggish in 2018.

"But we will start to see some upsides as the Pan Borneo Highway project gathers momentum, raising demand for quarry products and cement-based materials. We are hopeful that spending on recent allocations made by the federal and state governments for infrastructure and telco-infrastructure will start soon to help boost construction activity in Sarawak. We also expect our strategic investments, through our associates, to continue to positively contribute to the group's performance," he added.

At 2.11pm, CMSB shares were up 3 sen or 0.69% at RM4.38, with 152,200 shares done, bringing a market capitalisation of RM4.67 billion. — theedgemarkets.com

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