YTL Corp units report positive growth in 2Q

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 24): The YTL group of companies reported earnings growth for 1HFY12. Parent YTL Corp Bhd announced that its net profit for the six months ended Dec 31, 2011 rose 10.4% to RM489.2 million from RM443.1 million in the previous year on a 10.8% jump in revenue, which rose to RM9.9 billion from RM8.9 billion.

"At the halfway mark of the 2012 financial year, the group continued to perform well. Revenue topped RM9.8 billion, due mainly to the ongoing resilience of our multi-utility businesses in Malaysia, the UK and Singapore.

"Overall, our cement and multi-utility operations, which are the group's major contributors, continued to register a sound performance," said group managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh in a statement.

For the half-year period, YTL Power International Bhd saw its net profit increase by 5.2% to RM560 million from RM532.1 million in the previous corresponding period as the company's power generation and transmission businesses performed steadily.

Earnings per share rose 0.35 sen to 7.74 sen. For 2QFY12 ended Dec 31, net profit rose 21% to RM313.8 million from RM259.2 million previously, while revenue gained 28% to reach RM4.09 billion from RM3.58 billion.

According to the company, its Yes mobile broadband operations registered a loss mainly due to the up front implementation costs to build the 4G infrastructure. Its mobile broadband network segment registered a loss before tax of RM197.04 million on RM30.6 million in revenue.

"Despite the challenging market in the telecommunications industry, this business segment is expected to continuously grow its subscriber base to generate higher revenue," said YTL Power in an announcement to Bursa Malaysia.

YTL Power announced a second interim dividend of 93.57 sen per share.

YTL Cement Bhd said its net profit grew 8.7% to RM167.9 million in 1HFY12 from RM154.4 million due to a higher demand for cement in the construction industry and contributions from its subsidiaries offshore.

Its 2Q net profit rose to RM92.1 million from RM81.8 million. Revenue rose 7.7% to RM603.7 million from RM560.7 million.

ACE-market listed YTL E-Solutions Bhd saw record earnings for 2Q with revenue soaring 41.1% to RM42.2 million from RM29.9 million in the previous corresponding period. Net profit doubled to RM18.6 million from RM8.9 million, mainly due to the fee income earned from a spectrum sharing agreement for the company's 2.3GHz WiMAX.

YTL Land & Development Bhd saw 2Q net profit grow 190% to RM6.4 million from RM2.2 million in the previous year while revenue grew more than seven-fold to RM222.5 million from RM27.4 million.

For the six-month period, net profit rose 72% to RM9.3 million from RM5.4 million in the previous year while revenue quadrupled to RM225.9 million from RM41.4 million.

"The improvements in performance were substantially contributed by The Capers, under the group's Sentul urban regeneration project, and the Lakefront and Sandy Island projects being undertaken by the group's recently acquired property development companies in Singapore," said YTL.