KUALA LUMPUR: IJM Corp Bhd posted net profit of RM83.65 million in the third quarter ended Dec 31, 2009, up 45% from RM57.62 million a year ago, as the improvement in its earnings were boosted by the group's property division.

It said on Feb 25 that revenue fell 10.3% to RM936.31 million from RM1.04 billion. Earnings per share were 6.32 sen versus 4.67 sen.

"The decrease (in revenue) was mainly due to lower revenues from the group's construction division mainly as the group's major projects have reached the tail-end of its project lifecycle while construction works at major projects such as the Grand Hyatt in Kuala Lumpur and new India projects have only just commenced contributions," it said.

Lower selling prices of building materials coupled with lower market demand for the quarrying and ready-mix segments also resulted in the group's industry division reporting a 16% decline in revenue.

However, the group's operating profit before tax for 3Q rose to RM161 million from RM125 million a year ago as all of the group's main operating divisions reported higher profits.

"The most significant improvement was recorded by the group's property division buoyed by improved property sales which doubled its profit to RM43 million compared to RM21 million in the previous year's corresponding quarter," it said.

For the nine-months ended Dec 31, 2009, net profit slipped to RM221.54 million from RM236.87 million while revenue declined 8.1% to RM3.147 billion from RM3.42 billion.

"Revenues from the plantation, construction and industry divisions fell by 26%, 18% and 15% respectively. The lower plantation revenue was mainly due to the drop in prices of crude palm oil (CPO) from an average of RM2,874 per ton in the previous year’s corresponding period to RM2,205 per ton," it said.

IJM Corp said operating profit before tax also dropped to RM415 million compared to RM460 million a year ago mainly due to significantly lower plantation profits caused by the decline in CPO prices.

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