KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 23): Here is a brief look at some corporate announcements and news flow on Tuesday (Aug 23), which include Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, Boustead Plantations Bhd, Malakoff Corp Bhd, UOA Development Bhd, AEON Co (M) Bhd, Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd, Star Media Group Bhd, Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd, D&O Green Technologies Bhd, IOI Corp Bhd, Sports Toto Bhd, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd and Pekat Group Bhd.

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd's net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 (2QFY22) grew 31.6% year-on-year to RM812 million from RM617 million, driven by its upstream and downstream segments and non-recurring activities. The plantation group’s revenue for the quarter rose to RM5.59 billion from RM4.41 billion earlier. It declared an interim dividend of 10 sen per share to be paid on Nov 18. For the six months ended June 30 (6MFY22), Sime Darby Plantation’s net profit rose to RM1.53 billion from RM1.18 billion a year prior, on the back of revenue of RM9.97 billion versus RM8.08 billion previously.

Boustead Plantations Bhd's net profit soared 51% to RM73.22 million or 3.27 sen per share 2QFY22 from RM48.37 million or 2.16 sen per share a year ago thanks to higher palm oil prices. Quarterly revenue swelled 44% to RM348.96 million for 2QFY22 from RM242.78 million last year. The group declared a second interim dividend of 2.75 sen per share, with an ex-date of Sept 12. For 6MFY22, net profit jumped over eight times to RM508.38 million from just RM60.6 million in the previous corresponding period, on the back of 62% growth in revenue to RM673.11 million from RM414.72 million.

Malakoff Corp Bhd saw its net profit for 2QFY22 rise marginally to RM119.15 million from RM117.73 million on higher contribution from Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd (TBP) and lower net finance costs. Revenue for the quarter climbed 46.33% to RM2.32 billion from RM1.58 billion, primarily due to higher energy payments recorded from TBP and Tanjung Bin Energy Sdn Bhd (TBE) on the back of higher applicable coal price. The group declared an interim dividend of 2.8 sen per share to be paid on Oct 27. For 6MFY22, Malakoff's net profit declined by 4.6% to RM170.03 million from RM178.18 million, due to lower contribution from TBE caused by lower capacity income as a result of the low-pressure turbine blade outage, and higher operational and maintenance costs. Revenue in 6MFY22 grew 43.15% to RM4.2 billion from RM2.94 billion primarily due to higher energy payments recorded from TBP and TBE on the back of higher applicable coal price.

UOA Development Bhd’s net profit slipped 16.6% to RM45.3 million in 2QFY22 from RM54.4 million a year earlier, mainly due to lower sales from existing projects. Quarterly revenue was also lower, falling 44% to RM121.1 million against RM216.3 million previously. For 6MFY22, UOA's net profit contracted to RM70.69 million from RM90.44 million a year earlier, on the back of lower revenue of RM175.69 million versus RM356.46 million previously.

AEON Co (M) Bhd's net profit for 2QFY22 surged more than four times to RM47.28 million from RM10.94 million in the same period last year, boosted by higher revenue contribution from its retail business segment. Quarterly revenue grew 25.31% to RM1.1 billion from RM874.2 million in the same period a year ago. For 6MFY22, AEON Co's net profit rose 128.49% to RM75.35 million from RM32.98 million in the same period in the previous year, as revenue increased 11.1% to RM2.1 billion from RM1.89 billion previously.

Dutch Lady Milk Industries Bhd's net profit for 2QFY22 fell 21.09% to RM21.53 million from RM27.29 million a year ago, as the group's performance was hit by escalating prices of global dairy raw materials and negative foreign exchange results due to the ringgit's weakening against the US dollar. The earnings contraction came despite higher revenue, which rose nearly 20% to RM340.09 million from RM284.04 million, mainly driven by continued strong demand for milk, a successful Ramadhan campaign and necessary price increases to offset strong inflationary headwinds. For 6MFY22, the group's net profit slipped 4.7% to RM42.1 million from RM44.16 million, though revenue rose 17.93% to RM639.96 million from RM542.67 million.

Star Media Group Bhd returned to profit in 2QFY22, after incurring losses for five straight quarters, following the absence of impairment charges coupled with higher revenue. The publishing group posted a net profit of RM1.81 million or 0.25 sen per share in 2QFY22 compared to a net loss of RM37.85 million or 5.22 sen per share in 2QFY21. Quarterly revenue rose 13.86% year-on-year to RM53.22 million from RM46.74 million.  For 6MFY22, Star Media posted a net profit of RM4.33 million compared to a net loss of RM51.5 million a year earlier, as revenue grew 17.86% to RM105.32 million from RM89.35 million.

Rubberex Corp (M) Bhd's net profit tumbled 96.8% to RM2.06 million in 2QFY22 from RM64.66 million a year before, dragged down by a persistent easing of glove average selling price and low capacity utilisation amidst the continuing oversupply in the market. Quarterly revenue also slumped 73.73% to RM46.4 million from RM176.61 million a year before. The dismal quarterly performance dampened its 6MFY22 net profit by 96.95% to RM4.61 million from RM151.23 million a year earlier, while revenue dropped sharply by 71.87% to RM98.98 million from RM351.85 million.

Foreign exchange (forex) losses dragged D&O Green Technologies Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 (2QFY22) to RM15.33 million, a 42.7% slump from RM26.79 million in the same quarter last year. Quarterly revenue, meanwhile, rose 16% to RM242.06 million from RM208.65 million. The robust revenue growth underlined the strength of automotive LED demand, spurred by the proliferation of electric vehicles and changes in new design trends, D&O told Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday. Cumulatively, D&O’s net profit in 6MFY22 declined 14% to RM45.83 million from RM53.29 million. Revenue in 6MFY22 increased 16.7% to RM483.67 million from RM414.3 million.

IOI Corp Bhd's net profit for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2022 (4QFY22) jumped 50.75% to RM541.8 million from RM359.4 million in the corresponding quarter last year, thanks to higher contributions from its plantation and resource-based manufacturing segments. IOI Corp declared a second interim dividend of eight sen per share to be paid on Sept 23, as opposed to the six sen payout made in 4QFY21. This raised total FY22 payout to 14 sen, versus FY21's 10.5 sen. For the full financial year ended June 30, 2022, IOI Corp's net profit rose 23.74% to RM1.73 billion from RM1.39 billion in FY21, as revenue climbed 38.46% to RM15.58 billion from RM11.25 billion. Full-year EPS rose to 27.74 sen from 22.26 sen.

Sports Toto Bhd’s net profit for 4QFY22 jumped 52.33% to RM46.41 million from RM30.47 million in the same period last year, as the group continued to see business recovery with higher sales from its number forecast operator (NFO) business STM Lottery Sdn Bhd, and its luxury car dealer HR Owen plc. Quarterly revenue grew 29.65% to RM1.46 billion from RM1.13 billion in the same period a year ago. Earnings per share improved to 3.46 sen from 2.27 sen. The group, formerly known as Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd, declared a fourth interim dividend of 4.7 sen per share to be paid and credited to shareholders accounts respectively on Oct 21, 2022. For the full year, Sports Toto’s net profit was down 10.85% to RM161.57 million from RM181.23 million in FY21, despite revenue rising 8.35% to RM5.23 billion from RM4.83 billion.

Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MHB) has signed a strategic agreement with marine consulting and service provider Bureau Veritas Solutions Marine & Offshore to support industry-wide efforts to progress shipping’s decarbonisation. The partnership was signed via MHB’s wholly-owned unit, Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Sdn Bhd.

Pekat Group Bhd is partnering Proton Holdings Bhd to promote the adoption of the solar photovoltaic system within Proton's ecosystem and among its employees, as part of the national automaker’s energy sustainability initiatives. A Memorandum of Understanding was inked on Tuesday  between Solaroo Systems Sdn Bhd and Proton Global Services Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Proton Edar Sdn Bhd.