MY Morning Wrap | MISC Net Profit Surges to RM452.90mil in 2Q

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ initially looked set to build on its best day since June but finished 1.3% lower. Each of the benchmark's 11 sectors closed in the red. Air came out of big tech stocks: Shares of $Tesla (TSLA.US)$ and $Amazon (AMZN.US)$, which comprise hefty portions of the market, dragged down the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ to a 1.9% loss.

$Disney (DIS.US)$ shares extended this year's rout, falling 3.9% to their lowest close in nearly nine years. Those losses weighed on the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$, which slid 1.1%.

$MISC (3816.BMS)$ : MISC Bhd registered RM452.9 million net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) versus RM19.1 million net loss a year ago on the back of a smaller impairment of non-current asset in 2QFY2023. The energy shipping arm's revenue was RM3.55 billion, 10.5% higher than RM3.21 billion in 2QFY2022. The increase in revenue was contributed by improved freight rates in the petroleum and product shipping segment as well as higher revenue from ongoing heavy engineering projects. It declared a second tax-exempt dividend of 10 sen per share amounting to RM446.4 million. The dividend, with an ex-date of Sept 11, will be paid on Sept 21.

$KLK (2445.BMS)$ : Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) has proposed to buy 739.2 million shares or 33% and one share in Boustead Plantations Bhd (BPlant) for a total of RM1.15 billion or RM1.55 per share and plans to take the company private via a mandatory general offer (MGO), confirming The Edge's report. KLK said its shareholdings in BPlant will increase from nil to 33% and one share upon completion of the proposed acquisition, while BHB and LTAT will collectively retain their remaining equity interest of approximately 35% in BPlant. Separately, KLK's net profit plummeted 84.9% to RM84.1 million in the third quarter ended June 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) from RM558.27 million a year ago, due to weaker average selling prices of crude palm oil (CPO), palm kernel and higher CPO production cost.

$GENTING (3182.BMS)$ : Genting Bhd posted RM160.55 million net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023), compared to RM59.53 million net loss in 2QFY2022. The higher profit was mainly due to a net gain of RM182 million on disposal of property, plant and equipment by Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM) group. Additionally, the group recorded lower impairment losses of RM55.74 million from RM143.77 million in the previous year’s corresponding quarter while share of loss in joint ventures and associates decreased to RM52.2 million from RM76.04 million. The board of directors declared an interim single-tier dividend of six sen per share, to be paid on Oct 6.

$SIME (4197.BMS)$ : Sime Darby Bhd is buying a 61.18% equity interest in UMW Holdings Bhd from its parent company Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) for RM3.57 billion or RM5 per share. Sime Darby will launch an MGO to buy the remaining shareholding of 38.82% and to take UMW private. The MGO is expected to cost roughly RM2.27 billion. Separately, Sime Darby announced its net profit doubled to RM622 million or 9.1 sen per share in the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2023 (4QFY2023), compared with RM278 million or 4.1 sen per share in the previous year's corresponding quarter. The profit for the quarter was boosted by a gain on disposal of its motor segment's properties of RM177 million (net of deferred tax adjustment) and dividend income of RM194 million.

$GENM (4715.BMS)$ : Genting Malaysia Bhd (GenM) returned to the black in the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023). The casino operator posted a net profit of RM47.12 million or 0.83 sen per share compared to a RM10.85 million net loss or 0.19 sen loss per share a year ago. The group incurred a net loss of RM27.4 million in the preceding quarter 1QFY2023 on revenue of RM2.28 billion. The earnings in 2QFY2023 were mainly boosted by RM182.2 million net gain on disposal of property, plant and equipment. Quarterly revenue grew by 13.74% to RM2.47 billion from RM2.18 billion a year ago. GenM attributed higher revenue to the increase in volume of business by Resorts World Genting’s (RWG) gaming and non-gaming segments as well as higher contributions from Resorts World New York City (RWNYC) and the improved operating performance of Resorts World Bimini. GenM declared an interim single-tier dividend of six sen per share, to be paid on Oct 2.

$YTL (4677.BMS)$ : YTL Corp Bhd's net profit more than doubled to RM480.99 million for the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2023 (4QFY2023), from 173.24 million a year ago, on higher contribution from almost all segments. Earnings per share jumped to 4.39 sen from 1.58 sen. Revenue stood at RM9.1 billion, 47.8% higher compared with RM6.15 billion in 4QFY2022, the conglomerate’s bourse filing showed. YTL Corp declared an interim dividend of four sen per share, payable on Nov 29. Previously, the group paid interim dividends of three sen in FY2022 and 2.5 sen in FY2021.

$BKAWAN (1899.BMS)$ : Batu Kawan Bhd's net profit fell 72.8% to RM82.81 million for the third quarter ended June 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) from RM304.30 million a year ago, dragged by lower crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel selling prices as well as higher CPO production costs. Revenue declined 26.2% to RM5.35 billion from RM7.25 billion.

$SUNWAY (5211.BMS)$ : Sunway Bhd's net profit fell 7.2% to RM149.93 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) from RM161.49 million a year earlier, as lower contribution from property investment and other operating income more than offset a rise in revenue. Sunway's revenue rose 14.7% to RM1.47 billion, from RM1.28 billion in 2QFY2022, underpinned by better contributions from most of its business segments. The group declared a first interim dividend of two sen per share and a preferential dividend of 5.25% (based on the issue price of RM1.00) per irredeemable convertible preference share in respect of the first half of FY2023.

$MCEMENT (3794.BMS)$ : Malayan Cement Bhd doubled its net profit to RM79.55 million or 6.07 sen per share in the fourth quarter ended June 30, 2023, from RM34.13 million or 2.61 sen per share a year ago as higher revenue more than offset the increase in electricity and maintenance costs. The group said revenue rose 25% to RM1.01 billion from RM804.76 million on improvement of both volume and selling price of domestic cement as well as higher selling price of ready-mixed concrete. It declared an interim dividend of six sen per share payable on November 21, 2023.

$DRBHCOM (1619.BMS)$ : DRB-HICOM Bhd registered an 80.11% plunge in net profit to RM33.7 million million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) compared with RM169.56 million a year ago, due to the absence of asset disposal gains recorded in the corresponding period. The higher results in the corresponding quarter were mainly due to the group recognising the income arising from the disposal of then subsidiary Lotus Advance Technologies Sdn Bhd amounting to RM119.51 million under other income. Quarterly revenue increased 12% to RM3.98 billion against RM3.55 billion a year prior, driven by the automotive sector — mainly with contributions from PROTON, automotive distribution companies, and manufacturing and engineering companies.

$SEM (5250.BMS)$ : 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s (SEM) net profit inched down 1.58% to RM25.36 million for the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) from RM25.77 million a year earlier, dragged by lower profit contribution from the pharmaceutical segment. Earnings per share slid to 2.28 sen from 2.29 sen. The lower earnings was despite revenue jumping to a record high of RM1.07 billion, up 13.01% from RM943.67 million in 2QFY2022.

$DAYANG (5141.BMS)$ : Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd marked a return to profitability after notching a net profit of RM64.69 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023), its highest quarterly profit since its 4QFY2019 result of RM78.23 million. In a year-on-year (y-o-y) comparison, the integrated oil and gas (O&G) service provider’s latest quarterly net profit represented a 54% jump from RM42.02 million, which it credited to higher utilisation rates for vessels with better margin. Dayang Enterprise said net profit rose despite a net realised or unrealised foreign exchange (forex) loss of RM18.7 million in the current quarter versus a net realised or unrealised forex loss of RM4.7 million a year ago.

$MSM (5202.BMS)$ : MSM Holdings Bhd saw its net loss narrowing by 38.89% to RM20.82 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2023 (2QFY2023) from RM34.07 million previously. The better quarterly earnings came on the back of higher capacity utilisation, lower freight cost, as well as gains from the disposal of its Pulau Indah land of RM8.33 million. It was also boosted by the gain from translation of US dollar balances of RM9.67 million and gain from US dollar forward contracts of RM7.09 million.