Update Tenaga posts 4Q net profit of RM133.4m vs net loss RM281.3m yr ago

Written by Nadia Hassan
Monday, 26 October 2009 17:27

KUALA LUMPUR: TENAGA NASIONAL BHD [] posted net profit of RM133.4 million for the fourth quarter ended Aug 31, 2009, a turnaround from the net loss of RM281.3 million a year ago, partly due to lower foreign exchange (forex) translation loss.

It said on Monday, Oct 26 the better results for the quarter resulted from the tariff adjustment granted in July 2008 where the full impact was reflected in the FY09.

Revenue rose 10.6% to RM7.46 billion from RM6.74 billion a year ago. Operating profit in 4Q was RM736 million compared with RM212.9 million a year ago. Earnings per share were 3.79 sen compared with loss per share of 6.53 sen.

Tenaga proposed a dividend of 10 sen per share and tax-exempt dividend of 2.5 sen per share.

"The group recorded an unrealised foreign exchange (forex) loss of RM244.3 million (in 4Q 09), resulting from a weakening of the ringgit against the yen and US dollar which the group was exposed to," it said. The forex loss was RM288.8 million a year ago.

For the full financial year ended Aug 31, 2009, it posted net profit of RM853 million compared with the RM2.6 billion a year ago due to the impact of slower demand growth, increased operating expenses ,mainly due to higher fuel costs and payments to independent power producers.

Tenaga was also affected by the impact of the exchange rate which the group was exposed to as the ringgit had weakened against the major currencies namely the yen and US dollar.

The weaker net profit for FY09 was due to forex translation loss of RM1.17 billion compared with a forex translation gain of RM53.2 million a year ago.

Revenue rose 16.2% to RM28.78 billion in FY09 from RM24.75 billion.EPS was 21.18 sen compared with 59.87 sen.

However, operating expenses rose 18.3% to RM25.44 billion from RM21.51 billion.

It posted significantly lower economic loss of RM1.57 billion for FY09, an improvement from RM1.94 billion loss a year ago. This improvement was due to lower marginal growth in operating expenses of 1.2% compared with 8.5% growth a year ago.