Pos Malaysia's 3Q profit falls 51% on year to RM22.5m

by **Cals** Wed 24 Feb 2016, 04:15

By Kamarul Anwar / theedgemarkets.com | February 23, 2016 : 9:49 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): Pos Malaysia Bhd blamed the 51.08% on-year drop in its net profit to RM22.53 million for the third quarter of its financial year ending Mar 31, 2016 (3QFY16), on higher transport cost for its transhipment business and recognition of expired postal order in the previous corresponding quarter.

Its filing with Bursa Malaysia today showed revenue rose 38.15% year-on-year to RM494.63 million, against RM358.05 million in 3QFY16, as the postal company’s biggest revenue contributors registered double digit growth.

Pos Malaysia’s mail segment, the group’s biggest revenue component, also had the highest top-line growth of 62.77% to RM288.37 million for the quarter under review. This was due to higher revenue from its transhipment business.

Revenue from its courier segment meanwhile grew by 18.81% y-o-y to RM143.3 million, thanks to the growing popularity of e-commerce business.

The retail division saw revenue rising 9.6% in the quarter to RM50.88 million, due to a one-off recognition of expired postal order, amounting to RM25.5 million.

Businesses parked in the “others” segment contracted by 13.15% to RM12.08 million, because of lower sales of digital certificates and printing and insertion, said Pos Malaysia.

Pos Malaysia’s net profit for the nine months ended Dec 31, 2015 (9MFY16) fell by a bigger quantum of 54.51% y-o-y to RM48.74 million, or 9.08 sen a share. The group cited the same reasons as 3QFY16’s net profit drop for the cumulative period’s decline.

Revenue rose by 14.43% to RM1.28 billion.

“Although e-commerce transaction volume is expected to have long-term growth potential as consumer purchasing preference is shifting to online and mobile platforms globally, the softening market sentiments are of concern for Pos Malaysia’s business,” the group cautioned over its prospects.

With that, it said it will continue to seek new revenue streams in the e-commerce and logistics segments, plus improve its margins by better managing its costs and operational efficiencies.

Pos Malaysia’s counter jumped by nine sen or 3.93% today to close at RM2.38, with a trade volume of 2.06 million. Its market capitalisation stands at RM1.27 billion.