KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 21): Sime Darby Bhd’s net profit for the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2023 (2QFY2024) surged to RM2.29 billion from RM389 million, due mainly to the RM2 billion gain on the disposal of Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care in December 2023.

In a bourse filing on Wednesday, the conglomerate’s revenue rose to RM15.55 billion from RM11.29 billion.

Earnings per share rose to 33.60 sen, from 5.70 sen.

Sime Darby declared a dividend of three sen per share, to be paid on March 27.

For the cumulative six months ended Dec 31, 2023 (6MFY2024), Sime Darby’s net profit jumped to RM2.88 billion from RM596 million, on the back of a revenue of RM29.53 billion, versus RM23.47 billion previously.

In a separate statement, Sime Darby group chief executive officer Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson said completion of the sale of Ramsay Sime Darby Health Care and Sime Darby’s full exit from the healthcare business will allow the group to fully focus on growth of its two core businesses, which are industrial and motors.

“We also completed the acquisition of UMW. We are very excited that through this acquisition, we will be adding two leading mass market brands — Toyota and Perodua — into our portfolio.

“This will help broaden our earnings and unlock further value for the group,” he said.

On Sime Darby’s prospects, Jeffri said that strong performance by its Malaysian and Singaporean operations helped cushion the impact of low vehicle margins at the division’s Chinese mainland operations.

“Overall, our businesses performed well. On the industrial front, we are seeing good returns from our recent acquisitions of (Australian companies) Onsite (Rental Group Ltd) and Cavpower (Group), which contributed to the division’s strong growth in the quarter under review.

“We are confident that increased profits from our Australasian operations will further strengthen our industrial business and continue to contribute positively to the group’s earnings,” he said.

At midday break on Wednesday, Sime Darby shed 0.38% or one sen to RM2.62, with 10.41 million shares traded.

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