KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 24): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Friday involving Leform Bhd, Malakoff Corporation Bhd, Apex Equity Holdings Bhd, MBSB Bank Bhd, Far East Holdings Bhd, Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, ECM Libra Group Bhd, Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, Avaland Bhd, Sam Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd, Al-Aqar Healthcare Real Estate Investment Trust’s (Al-Aqar REIT) and Sersol Bhd.

Steel products manufacturer and trader Leform Bhd has bagged a supply contract from Cambodia-based contractor Nim Meng Group Co Ltd worth US$1.95 million (RM9.15 million). Leform said its 85%-owned subsidiary Leform Metal Sdn Bhd has accepted and executed a contract with Nim Meng Group for the supply of highway guardrail products for the National Road No 5 Improvement Project, Package 4 in Cambodia. Leform said the contract is expected to commence from August 2024 and be completed by December 2024.

Malakoff Corporation Bhd registered a net loss of RM109.42 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), from a net profit of RM66.54 million in the same period last year, primarily due to a negative fuel margin recorded at its coal plants on the back of higher weighted average coal costs. Quarterly revenue fell 32.2% to RM2.15 billion from RM3.18 billion due to lower energy payment recorded from Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd and Tanjung Bin Energy Sdn Bhd, which were impacted by a decline in applicable coal price.

Apex Equity Holdings Bhd said a consent judgement was recorded at the High Court on Nov 23 between the group, Apex Securities Bhd and Securities Commission Malaysia (SC). Upon filing of the consent judgement, the material litigation against Apex Equity and Apex Securities was concluded while the SC will withdraw its claim against the two companies.

MBSB Bank Bhd has withdrawn its winding-up petitions against Sentoria Group Bhd and its wholly-owned unit Sentoria Bina Sdn Bhd (SBSB) over a judgement debt of RM303,268. Sentoria said MBSB’s solicitors had filed the notices of discontinuance on Friday to withdraw the winding-up petitions without liberty to file afresh and with no order as to cost. On Nov 3, Sentoria, a property developer and resort operator, announced that MBSB Bank had filed winding-up petitions against the company and SBSB after it failed to recover RM303,268 from them, pursuant to a judgement granted by the Sessions Court.

Far East Holdings Bhd expects its performance to continue to be challenging due to rising operation costs and lower crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK) prices after its net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 dropped 49.85% to RM31.55 million from RM62.91 million a year earlier. Quarterly revenue declined by 23.94% to RM143.74 million from RM188.98 million. The lower earnings were dragged down mainly by associates’ profit after tax, which shrank by 58% to RM14.9 million from RM35.28 million.

Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd posted a 13.38% rise in net profit to RM32.49 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023, up from RM28.65 million a year ago. This improvement was attributed to lower depreciation expenses and amortisation, which offset the impact of a 5.8% year-on-year decrease in revenue. The port operator reported RM186.52 million in revenue, down from RM198.13 million in the corresponding quarter a year ago. Bintulu Port declared a third interim dividend of three sen per share payable on Dec 28, bringing the total dividend declared year-to-date to 11 sen.

Tenaga Nasional Bhd’s (TNB) net profit dipped by 3.7% year-on-year for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), despite stronger electricity demand, as earnings were impacted by negative fuel margin. Net profit fell to RM856.2 million or 14.85 sen per share for 3QFY2023 from RM888.9 million or 15.50 sen per share a year ago. Higher sales of electricity drove revenue up by 3.9% to RM13.47 billion in 3QFY2023 from RM12.96 billion in 3QFY2022.

ECM Libra Group Bhd is adding to its hospitality assets by acquiring two leasehold properties in the city centre of Liverpool, UK — the Tune Hotel and a ground floor shop with basement — for £4.5 million or about RM26.48 million. ECM Libra said it has, through its subsidiaries, inked a business purchase agreement with the vendors Castle Street Liverpool LLP and CSL Opco Ltd to acquire the two leasehold assets that are located on popular Castle Street.

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd registered a net profit of RM1.21 billion or 17.5 sen per share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), a threefold jump from RM396 million or 5.7 sen per share in the previous year’s corresponding quarter. The plantation group recorded higher recurring profit before interest and tax (PBIT) for the upstream segment, which jumped 120% to RM547 million from RM249 million in the previous year. This was due to a 14% increase in fresh fruit bunches production to 2.45 million tonnes as a result of intensive rehabilitation efforts as well as higher oil extraction rate from 20.88% to 21.12%.

Avaland Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 almost tripled to RM17.2 million from RM6.2 million a year ago as robust sales and encouraging construction progress drove similarly strong growth in revenue. Revenue likewise rose by almost three-fold to RM156.2 million from RM56.3 million — its highest since the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2020 — with healthy progress from four of its ongoing projects. For the first nine months ended Sept 30, 2023, the property developer formerly known as MCT Bhd returned to profitability with a net profit of RM28.48 million from a net loss of RM13.02 million in the prior year.

Sam Engineering & Equipment (M) Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (2QFY2024) rose to RM32.63 million, from RM26.94 million in the same quarter last year. Revenue increased by RM22.1 million to RM428.62 million from RM406.52 million previously. Sam Engineering said the higher 2Q group revenue was due to a RM33.8 million increase in revenue from its aerospace segment, which was offset by a RM11.7 million decrease from the equipment segment.

Al-Aqar Healthcare Real Estate Investment Trust’s (Al-Aqar REIT) net income for the third quarter fell marginally to RM17.59 million from RM17.62 million in the same period last year, on lower net rental from its Australia segment due to higher professional fees. Quarterly net rental income, however, increased 2.27% to RM30.79 million from RM27.42 million in 3QFY2022 on the back of a 13% rise in the Malaysia segment's contribution to RM27.7 million from RM24.5 million. Al-Aqar REIT declared a third interim income distribution of two sen per unit payable on Dec 27, bringing the total dividend declared year to date to 5.9 sen per unit.

Sersol Bhd has extended its net loss to RM7.91 million in the third quarter ended on Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2024) from a loss of RM542,000 recorded in the same period last year, largely due to deposits and prepayments written off amounting to RM7.4 million which are deemed to be non-recoverable. The chemical manufacturer group highlighted its quarterly revenue fell by 38% to RM3.45 million compared with RM5.56 million, due to softening demand by customers in electronic and electrical business segments.