Update Boustead Holdings Bhd Q2 net profit falls 26% to RM45.3 million

by **Cals** Tue 26 Aug 2014, 09:33

Update Boustead Holdings Bhd Q2 net profit falls 26% to RM45.3 million

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Jonathan Gan of theedgemalaysia.com

Monday, 25 August 2014 15:52

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 25): Boustead Holdings Bhd net profit for the second financial quarter ended June 30, 2014 fell 26% to RM45.3 million from RM61.2 million a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter rose 8.2% to RM2.58 billion from RM2.39 billion a year ago.

Net profit for the six months fell to RM112 million from RM161.1 million in the first half of last year.

The company said its plantations division was the biggest contributor of earnings for the group delivering a pre-tax profit of RM61.4 million for the half-year period.

In a statement Monday, Boustead Deputy Chairman and Group Managing Director Tan Sri Lodin Wok Kamaruddin said it had been a challenging quarter for the conglomerate as a good number of its divisions had been affected by cyclical considerations and external pressures.

“What is crucial is that we will redouble our efforts to strengthen organic growth as we build our prospects with our new acquisitions during the period under review,” he said.

Lodin said Boustead wanted to be viewed by investors as a solid dividend yielding stock.

He said Boustead’s property division had recorded a lower profit of RM24.5 million due mainly to lower revenue as well as the absence of the sale of investment properties and corporate lots.

Cumulative revenue for the six months rose to RM5.08 billion from RM4.92 billion a year ago.

On its prospects, Lodin said Boustead’s diversified nature augured well for the Malaysian economy and would enable the group to deliver a satisfactory set of results for the year under review.

For its plantation division, he said that the El Nino weather conditions might impact CPO prices and fresh fruit bunches crop depending on timing and severity.

Lodin added that Boustead’s Ministry of Health concession business and related manufacturing activities would be the main growth driver to boost its pharmaceutical division earnings.

On its property division, he said progress billings from its on-going housing phases would contribute positively to the division’s bottom line.