MRCB back in the black with RM26.79 mil profit

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) returned to the black with a net profit of RM26.79 million or 1.5 sen per share in the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2015 (4QFY15), compared with a net loss of RM5.28 million or 0.3 sen loss per share a year ago.

This was due to lower effective tax rates for 4QFY15 from the non-taxable capital gains arising from the completion of the sale of a 51% equity interest in Nu Sentral Sdn Bhd.

MRCB on Oct 6, 2015 completed the disposal of the stake in Nu Sentral to Pelaburan Hartanah Bhd for RM119.78 million cash, which generated a gain of RM70 million.

However, MRCB’s revenue dropped 20.3% to RM388.2 million in 4QFY15 from RM487.17 million in 4QFY14, as certain property development projects were fully completed in 3QFY15.

For the 12-month period (FY15), the property and infrastructure developer’s net profit more than doubled to RM330.39 million or 18.5 sen per share from RM152.63 million or 8.93 sen per share in FY14.

Revenue grew 12% to RM1.7 billion from RM1.51 billion.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the group attributed the improved results in FY15 to the completion of the Q Sentral development, the sale of Platinum Sentral and investments, and also other ongoing development projects including the Sentral Residences and 9 Seputeh.

On its prospects, MRCB said the strong performance and value creation through monetisation and crystallisation of its assets, including the real estate investment trust platform, were the result of the transformation plan embarked by the group since FY14.

“The group will continue to focus on its property project launches and actively participate in tendering for more construction contracts to build its order book.

“With all these in place, the board is optimistic about its immediate prospects for FY16,” it added.

MRCB shares closed unchanged at RM1.21 yesterday, bringing it a market capitalisation of RM2.16 billion.

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Feb 23, 2016. Subscribe to The Edge Financial Daily here.