Ketengah Hldgs half year profit up 73pc

KUALA TERENGGANU: Ketengah Holding Sdn Bhd has registered a 73 per cent increase in pre-tax profit to RM36 million for the first six months of 2011 from RM21 million in the previous corresponding period.

"The profit posted by Ketengah Holding shows that our economy is getting better and stronger," Terengganu Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Ahmad Said told reporters here today.

For the full year, the company's profit was forecast to reach RM53 million,he said after representing Ketengah Holding and its subsidiaries in paying zakat totaling RM973,505 to the Terengganu Islamic Religious and Malay Custom Council (MAIDAM).

The subsidiaries were Ketengah Perwira Sdn BHd, YIY-Ketengah Perwira Sdn Bhd, Ketengah Jaya Sdn Bhd, Rakyat Ketengah Perwira Sdn Bhd, Kebunika Sdn Bhd dan Ladang Ternakan Tani Sdn Bhd.

Ketengah Holding and its subsidiaries are mainly involved in plantation and manufacturing.

Ahmad attributed the increase in profit to the rise in oil palm prices in addition to the company's management efficiency.

Meanwhile, he said MAIDAM was expected to collect RM80 million in zakat as it had collected almost RM40 million in the first six months.

Besides Ketengah Holding, Felda Holding Sdn Bhd and Koperasi Permodalan Felda Bhd also paid zakat totaling RM788,783 to Maidam at the same function. - Bernama