KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Tuesday (Nov 22), involving TIME dotCom Bhd (TDC), Gamuda Bhd, AirAsia X Bhd (AAX), Supermax Corp Bhd, Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust (PavREIT), Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM), Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Guan Chong Bhd (GCB), Sunway Construction Group Bhd (SunCon), Power Root Bhd and Boustead Plantations Bhd (BPB).

TIME dotCom Bhd (TDC) has inked a deal with US digital infrastructure firm DigitalBridge Group Inc to accelerate the expansion of its AIMS Group data centre business across Asia. The partnership is premised on bringing together two entities with distinctly different backgrounds — a focused telecommunications and data centre operator with assets across Asean, and a digital infrastructure investor that has enabled the growth of some of the most successful data centre and digital infrastructure companies around the world. TDC said following a strategic review of its data centre business in late-2021, the group found that there were significant opportunities in underserved markets across Asia.

Gamuda Bhd announced a special interim dividend of 38 sen per share, just over a month after the engineering, property and infrastructure company successfully completed its divestment of four highways to Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat Bhd (ALR). The special dividend’s ex-date is Dec 13, with entitlement on Dec 14. Last month, ALR said it has completed the acquisition of four highway concessionaires, following its issuance of sustainable sukuk murubahah amounting to RM5.5 billion in nominal value. The four highway toll concessionaires are Lingkaran Trans Kota Sdn Bhd (Litrak), Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Sdn Bhd (SPRINT), Kesas Sdn Bhd (Kesas) and Syarikat Mengurus Air Banjir dan Terowong Sdn Bhd (SMART).

AirAsia X Bhd (AAX) has turned profitable again in the three months ended Sept 30, 2022 (5QFY2022), on marginal growth in revenue and a significant reduction in cost for maintenance and overhaul. The long-haul low-cost airline reported a net profit of RM25.09 million for 5QFY2022, versus a net loss of RM149.14 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter. Revenue inched up 0.8% to RM100.1 million, from RM99.27 million over the same period. The group recently announced a change of financial year end from June 30 to Dec 31 — hence its financial year end for 2022 now covers a period of 18 months or six financial quarters — following the PN17 company’s restructuring exercise.

Supermax Corp Bhd continued to see sharp contractions in its quarterly profit, as revenue tumbled amid a continued fall in the average selling prices (ASPs) of gloves amid an oversupply situation, while the demand for gloves normalised as the Covid-19 pandemic eased into its endemic phase. It announced a net profit of RM5.71 million for its first quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (1QFY2023), down 99.1% from RM638.52 million in the previous year's corresponding quarter. The quarterly profit was also 82.7% lower than the RM33.05 million it made in the immediate preceding quarter of 4QFY2022. Revenue dropped about 83% to RM247.96 million from RM1.46 billion in 1QFY2022. This revenue was also down 17.5% from 4QFY2022's RM300.23 million.

An agreement has finally been inked to facilitate Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust (PavREIT)’s purchase of Pavilion Bukit Jalil mall (PBJ mall) from Malton Bhd. Both groups have been in talks regarding the purchase since December last year. Malton's executive chairman and major shareholder Tan Sri Desmond Lim is also the chairman and non-independent executive director of Pavilion REIT Management Sdn Bhd, the manager of Pavilion REIT. MTrustee Bhd, the trustee of Pavilion REIT, signed a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the mall from Malton's subsidiary, Regal Path Sdn Bhd, for RM2.2 billion.

Sime Darby Plantation Bhd’s net profit fell 34.98% to RM396 million or 5.7 sen per share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022), from RM609 million or 8.8 sen per share a year earlier, due to lower earnings from its upstream segment, but partially mitigated by improved downstream operations. The plantation group’s revenue for the quarter rose 6.54% to RM5.39 billion from RM5.06 billion a year prior, mainly due to increased revenue contributions from both its upstream and downstream segments.

Telekom Malaysia Bhd (TM)’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY22) fell slightly as foreign exchange loss on borrowings and higher effective tax rate due to the Cukai Makmur weighed on its profitability. The net profit fell 2.2% to RM265.20 million, from RM271.21 million a year ago, despite quarterly revenue growing 13% to RM3.16 billion from RM2.80 billion. TM attributed the higher revenue to an improvement in its wholesale, broadband and enterprise solution businesses.

Oil and gas (O&G) exploration and production company Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd saw its net profit more than triple to RM135.26 million for the first financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (1QFY2023), from RM41.52 million a year ago, on the back of elevated O&G prices. The higher prices contributed to profitability for all of its producing assets in Malaysia and the UK. The group sold one million barrels of oil and condensate in the quarter under review, and over 510,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) of gas. Revenue rose 145.15% to RM604.77 million for 1QFY2023, from RM246.69 million for 1QFY2022.

Guan Chong Bhd (GCB)net profit fell 11% to RM30.76 million or 2.89 sen per share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022), from RM34.45 million or 3.32 sen per share for the same period last year, mainly due to mark-to-market loss following the strengthening of the US dollar. The cocoa grinder said the stronger greenback resulted in an unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM17.1 million after the group’s borrowings in US dollars were marked to the market. Quarterly revenue increased 10% from RM998.10 million to RM1.1 billion due to higher average selling prices of cocoa power and increased sales tonnage of 5.2% year-on-year.

Sunway Construction Group Bhd (SunCon)’s net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY22) rose 17.72% to RM22.72 million from RM19.3 million in the same period last year thanks to stronger revenue contributions from both its construction and precast segments. Quarterly revenue climbed 72.47% to RM469.25 million from RM272.08 million in the same period a year ago.

Power Root Bhd’s net profit almost tripled to RM15.62 million in the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (2QFY2023), from RM5.6 million a year earlier, mainly due to higher revenue and foreign exchange (forex) gain. Revenue for the quarter increased 59.33% to RM128.79 million as compared to RM80.83 million the prior year, carried by higher revenue from both the local and export markets.

Boustead Plantations Bhd (BPB) registered a net loss of RM352,000 or 0.02 sen per share for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2022 (3QFY2022) versus a net profit of RM95.56 million or 4.27 sen per share for 3QFY2021 due to the decline in palm product prices and higher manuring costs. Revenue reduced by 18.22% to RM240.25 million from RM293.77 million due to lower fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production following labour shortages and lower palm product prices. BPB declared a third interim dividend of 1.1 sen per share, to be paid on Dec 22.