KLK 2Q earnings slip lower

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended March 31 this year slipped 2.5% year-on-year to RM209.6 million while revenue fell 11.4% to RM2.23 billion due to lower profit contribution from the plantation segment.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the group said the plantations sector recorded a 36.3% drop in profit to RM191.6 million from RM300.7 million a year ago.

“The decline in the commodity’s selling prices had brought down the quarter’s profit despite the increase in fresh fruit bunch production,” it said.

Both the manufacturing and property sectors saw profit rising 87.3% and 37.6% to RM81.2 million and RM15.5 million respectively.

An  interim single-tier dividend of 15 sen per share was declared for the quarter under review.

For the six months to March 31, net profit and revenue of RM470.6 million and RM4.5 billion were 15.3% and 11.9% lower from the same period a year ago.



This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on May 23, 2013.