Day: August 25, 2021

KUALA LUMPUR, Handal Energy Bhd has returned to the black for the financial year ended June 30, 2021 for the first time since financial year 2016, recording a net profit of RM227,000 against a net loss of RM25.28 million in the same period a year ago fuelled by new contracts.

Its revenue, however, slipped to RM73.69 million versus RM87.34 million.

The energy solutions and services provider to the oil and gas industry recorded basic earnings per share of 0.10 sen from a loss per share of 11.57 sen.

Group managing director Sunildeep Dhaliwal said the group has done exceptionally well and is back on solid financial footing whereby the company has broken its six-year streak of losses, which is a strong testament to the management’s business turnaround strategies.

“Our financial performance this year confirms the progress of Handal’s financial turnaround. We are proud that all our efforts during the financial year are now bearing fruit, thanks to the group’s operational excellence processes as part of our turnaround drive that has resulted in successful delivery despite the global challenges due to the pandemic.”

Looking ahead, Handal remains focused on implementing plans that will ensure business sustainability and profitability, with more project tenders in the pipeline.

“We remain confident and determined to continue our efforts to improve our bottom line in the coming quarters,” added Sunildeep.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Syarikat Takaful Malaysia Keluarga Bhd’s (Takaful Malaysia) net profit increased to RM81.54 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2021 (Q2 2021) against RM75.09 million in the same quarter last year.

Takaful Malaysia said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today that revenue also improved by 36 per cent to RM701.21 million against RM515.73 million previously.

The group said the increase in revenue was mainly attributable to higher sales from both family and general Takaful business.

On current year prospects, the group will continue with its strategic initiatives to strengthen its business resilience and adjust its operating models in managing the business in a very different market and dynamic operating landscape as concerns on job security remain heightened and consumers will be more cautious on their spending.

“It is expected that economic activities will take some time to recover. Amid the uncertainties in the current economic environment to support business expansion, the group remains vigilant and cautious in managing operating costs, business growth and risk profile of our portfolio,” it said.

Particularly, Takaful Malaysia said they have a wide range of online takaful products that customers can easily access and have an increased presence in the social media to cross-sell online products.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) recorded a net profit of RM403.41 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2021 (Q2 2021), from a net loss of RM12.51 million in the same period a year ago, contributed mainly by writebacks on impairment.

Revenue for the quarter, however, eased to RM664.94 million from RM886.35 million a year earlier mostly due to lower gain from sales of financial investments in Q2 2021.

MBSB acting group president and chief executive officer Datuk Nor Azam M Taib said the results were mainly attributed to lower expected credit loss, which contributed to net writebacks for impairment following improvement of staging for its loans, financing, and advances.

“This also denotes the efficiency on the enhancement of our business plan which we operated on diligently since the beginning of the year,” he said in a statement today.

MBSB’s total assets for the quarter increased marginally by 1.80 per cent quarter-on-quarter to RM50.84 billion in Q2 2021 from RM49.94 billion in Q1 2021, mainly in financial investments and net financing amount.

The bank’s total assets saw a year-on-year increase by 4.63 per cent from RM48.59 billion in Q2 2020.

Meanwhile, deposits increased by 0.22 per cent to RM35.68 billion in Q2 2021 against RM35.60 billion in Q1 2021 and 4.97 per cent against RM33.99 billion in Q2 2020.

On MBSB’s key financial ratios, cost to income ratio stood at 24.01 per cent in Q2 2021, marginally lower quarter-on-quarter against 24.03 per cent in Q1 2021.

The common equity tier ratio dipped slightly quarter-on-quarter to 21.06 per cent in Q2 2021 against 21.20 per cent in Q1 2021.

The group’s liquidity coverage ratio stood at 220.09 per cent in Q2 2021 compared with 202.67 per cent in Q1 2021, in compliance with Bank Negara Malaysia’s requirement.

On MBSB’s expectations for the next quarter, Nor Azam said with the gradual reopening of the economy, its main subsidiary MBSB Bank Bhd is optimistic that it could further strengthen its position and explore new initiatives.

“We hope to see an improvement in the political front as political stability impacts consumer sentiment,” he said.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 25 – Genting Plantations Bhd’s net profit for its second quarter (Q2) more than quadrupled to RM104.63 million from RM22.64 million a year ago amid firmer palm product prices and higher fresh fruit bunches (FFB) production.

Revenue for the quarter ended June 30, 2021, also increased to RM790.11 million from RM544.32 million previously, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

“The group’s Q2 2021 revenue improved notably across all segments, underpinned by higher palm products prices, increased FFB production and better property sales, which eclipsed the impact of lower sales volume from the downstream manufacturing segment,” it said.

Like the plantation and property segments, the downstream manufacturing segment also posted higher earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation in the quarter under review, thanks mainly to higher margins.

For the first half-year, the group’s net profit stood at RM168.36 million versus RM113.93 million previously, while revenue improved to RM1.33 billion from RM1.11 billion a year earlier.

“The group registered a year-on-year (y-o-y) growth in revenue for the first half (H1) of 2021 mainly driven by the stronger performance of the plantation segment, coupled with higher sales from the property segment,” it said.

However, the downstream segment recorded a marginal decline in revenue as the impact of higher palm product prices was offset by lower sales volume for biodiesel and refined palm products.

Genting Plantations said in Q2 2021 and H1 2021, the group achieved crude palm oil (CPO) average selling prices of RM3,250 per metric tonne (mt) (up 40 per cent y-o-y) and RM3,105 per mt (up 26 per cent y-o-y) respectively.

Meanwhile, average palm kernel prices recorded in Q2 2021 and H1 2021 were RM2,385 per mt (up 84 per cent y-o-y) and RM2,322 per mt (up 61 per cent y-o-y) respectively.

The group’s FFB production in Q2 2021 and H1 2021 surpassed that of the previous year, spurred by the growth in Indonesia from increased harvesting areas and higher yields, which more than compensated for the drop in Malaysia due to the compounded lagged effects of droughts in early 2019 and 2020 along with its replanting activities.

Genting Plantations said its prospects for the second half of 2021 would track the performance of its mainstay plantation segment, which is in turn dependent principally on the movements in palm product prices and the group’s FFB production.

It noted that the COVID-19 pandemic continued to impact world markets amid resurgent infection waves. Thus, it said, palm oil prices were expected to be mainly influenced by the impact of the pandemic on global economic conditions as well as the demand and supply dynamics of palm oil and other substitute oils and fats.

“Based on the crop trend observed in H1 2021 and barring any weather anomalies, the group expects overall FFB production growth to extend into the second half of 2021 driven by its Indonesian operations as a result of additional harvesting areas and the progression of existing mature areas into higher-yielding brackets.

“However, the growth in output is expected to be moderated by ongoing replanting activities in its Malaysian estates,” it said.

For the property segment, the group said it would continue to offer products that catered to a broader market segment given the prevailing soft market sentiments. Meanwhile, patronage and sales of the Premium Outlets will continue to be adversely affected until the COVID-19 situation has eased.

Meanwhile, the biotechnology segment would continue its work on developing commercial solutions and applications to enhance the yield and productivity of oil palm, it said.

For the downstream manufacturing segment, Genting Plantations said the outlook for biodiesel would remain constrained due to the unfavourable palm oil-gas oil spread but the demand for refined palm products was expected to be resilient given its competitive pricing vis-à-vis other substitute soft oils.

The company’s board has declared an interim dividend of 11 sen per share, up from the six sen per share declared a year ago.

Source: BERNAMA News Agency