Sime Darby posts 4Q earnings of RM984m

Written by Joseph Chin
Thursday, 27 August 2009 18:53

KUALA LUMPUR: SIME DARBY BHD posted net profit of RM984.04 million for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2009, a decline of 3.6% from RM1.02 billion a year ago and was generally upbeat about the new financial year, underpinned by a global economic recovery.

The group said on Aug 27 the market conditions under which the group operated appeared favourable, though uncertainty still persisted in certain market segments. Sime Darby said palm oil prices were trading at reasonably good levels and the improvement in property and consumer markets augured well for the group's core segments.

It said 4Q revenue fell 17.4% to RM7.53 billion from RM9.12 billion and earnings per share were 16.37 sen compared with 16.99 sen. The board recommended a final single tier dividend of 15.3 sen per share for the FY ended June 30 which is not taxable in the hands of the shareholders.For FY ended June 30, 2009, its earnings were RM2.28 billion, a decline of 35% from RM3.51 billion a year ago.

Revenue fell to RM31.01 billion from RM34.04 billion.Pre-tax profit was RM3.07 billion, down 41% from RM5.21 billion. This was after accounting for an unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM91.6 million (2008: gain of RM69.5 million) included under corporate income and expenses. Excluding unrealised foreign exchange, group pre-tax profit for FY09 at RM3.16 billion would be 38% lower than FY08.

Sime Darby said contribution from PLANTATION]fell by about 56% on the back of the lower average CPO price realised of RM2,177 per tonne compared with RM2,885 per tonne in FY08 and compounded by the lower fresh fruit bunches (FFB) yield of 20.6 tonnes per mature hectare against 21.7 tonnes last year.

It added profit from property was 4% higher than 2008 as a result of the success of the "Parade of Homes" campaign and the gain from disposal of PROPERTIES
of RM89.2 million (2008: RM2.7 million). "The 'Parade of Homes' campaign generated sales of RM1.0 billion and significantly contributed to the results of the property development segment which was affected by weak market conditions," it said.

Its industrial division recorded 24% inncrease in profit bdue to overall higher sales coupled with better margins generated in Australia and strong demand from the marine and oil & gas sectors in Singapore. Sime Darby's motors division recorded a 13% increase in profit mainly due to the better performance from its China operations as well as the receipt of dividend of RM50.4 million during the year, countering the lower profit from other regions.

However, its energy & utilities division recorded a drop of 82% for the year due to cost escalation incurred on fabrication and engineering projects as a result of higher off-shore costs driven largely by volatile oil prices.

The result also included the "one-off contribution" payment levied on Port Dickson Power Berhad.Earnings from healthcare & others segment dropped 91% mainly due to the lower gain of RM16.2 million from the disposal of non-core businesses as compared to that realised in the previous year of RM76.0 million.