MY Morning Wrap | PetChem's 3Q23 Earnings Fall Amid Low Demand

The $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ barely budged, closing the day up just 0.1% while the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ gained 0.2%. The $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ notched the biggest advance, gaining 0.3%.

$PCHEM (5183.MY)$: Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd's (PetChem) net profit fell 77.6% to RM424 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) from RM1.89 billion, as unfavourable product spreads and energy costs dented earnings. Quarterly revenue slipped 3.53% to RM6.78 billion from RM7.03 billion, amid lower product prices and sales volume, but this was partially offset by revenue contribution from Perstorp. Recent plant shutdown activities have been completed and the group is now operating at above 85% utilisation. For 9MFY2023, PetChem's net profit shrank 72.88% to RM1.58 billion from RM5.84 billion, although revenue increased by 5.95% to RM21.45 billion, from RM20.25 billion.

$PMETAL (8869.MY)$: Press Metal Aluminium Holdings Bhd's net profit dipped 3.1% to RM306.12 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), from RM315.80 million, weighed by softening metal prices. Revenue fell 10.6% to RM3.44 billion for 3QFY2023 from RM3.85 billion a year ago. For 9MFY2023, its net profit fell by 22% to RM893.88 million from RM1.15 billion, while revenue declined 13% to RM10.27 billion from RM11.77 billion. The group declared an interim dividend of 1.75 sen per share.

$IOICORP (1961.MY)$: IOI Corp Bhd's net profit jumped 81.48% to RM304 million for the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (1QFY2024), from RM167.5 million, on improved associates' performance and a swing to forex gain of RM7.9 million, from losses of RM147.3 million. Quarterly revenue fell 39.92% year-on-year to RM2.2 billion, from RM3.67 billion, mainly due to lower contributions from both its plantation as well as resource-based manufacturing segments.

$AIRPORT (5014.MY)$: Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) registered more than 10 million total passenger movements in October 2023, despite the month being generally a low season month for travelling.“International and domestic passenger movements registered 5.1 million and 5.0 million passengers, an increase of 40.3% and 7.0% respectively over the same month last year reaching more than 87% of pre-pandemic levels for both sectors,” the airport operator said in a statement.

$KPJ (5878.MY)$: KPJ Healthcare Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) jumped to RM90.31 million from RM50.69 million a year ago, thanks to a gain of RM41.5 million from the sale of its Indonesian operations, while its Malaysian hospital business improved. Quarterly revenue rose 15.9% to RM925.39 million from RM798.75 million, due to an increase in inpatient visits and bed occupancy rate. It announced a dividend payout of 1.30 sen per share. For 9MFY2023, KPJ Healthcare's net profit soared 89.3% to RM189.15 million from RM99.90 million, as revenue expanded 19.4% to RM2.55 billion from RM2.14 billion.

$GASMSIA (5209.MY)$: Gas Malaysia Bhd's net profit fell 9.93% to RM86.16 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), from RM95.66 million, due to lower volume of natural gas sold and higher operating and administrative expenses. Revenue slipped 2.57% to RM1.82 billion from RM1.86 billion. In 9MFY2023, Gas Malaysia net profit slipped 5.18% to RM279.07 million, from RM294.32 million on lower volume and higher expenses, even though revenue improved 15.69% to RM6.28 billion from RM5.43 billion on higher average natural gas selling price.

$HEXTECH (5136.MY)$: Hextar Technologies Solutions Bhd (HexTech) slipped into the red in its second financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (2QFY2024), posting a net loss of RM1.2 million compared with a net profit of RM4.33 million, despite a 71% jump in revenue to RM57.66 million, from RM33.68 million in 2QFY2024, on higher sales of building materials. HexTech attributed this to the loss of rental income subsequent to the expiry of a tenancy agreement, expenses incurred for its financial technology application, MoneyX, and absence of a one-off disposal gain of a quoted investment of RM3.7 million. Separately, it revised the ratio for its proposed bonus issue from 30:1 to 15:1. In 1HFY2024, HexTech posted a net loss of RM1.95 million compared with a net profit of RM4.62 million, while revenue grew 63% to RM101.5 million, from RM62.21 million in 1HFY2023.

$TROP (5401.MY)$: Tropicana Corp Bhd more than halved its net loss to RM10.34 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), from RM26.27 million a year earlier, on the completion of its disposal of two parcels of freehold development land in Kajang and Genting Highlands, as well as a continuous cost rationalisation exercise. Quarterly revenue grew 25% to RM402.76 million from RM321.64 million on the land sales. For 9MFY2023, the group posted a smaller net loss of RM15.27 million compared with RM121.21 million in 9MFY2022, while revenue climbed 49% to RM1.12 billion from RM756.36 million on higher progress billings.

$IGBB (5606.MY)$: IGB Bhd's net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) rose 21.33% to RM58.03 million from RM47.83 million, on higher contributions from all operating segments save for property development. Revenue rose 25.87% to RM395.1 million from RM313.89 million. For 9MFY2023, net profit jumped 61.13% to RM226.14 million from RM140.35 million, as revenue expanded 29.21% to RM1.17 billion from RM908.08 million. It announced dividends of seven sen per share, up from five sen previously.

$BIMB (5258.MY)$: Bank Islam Malaysia Bhd's (BIMB) net profit for its third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) slipped 1.62% to RM140.54 million or 6.2 sen per share, against RM142.86 million or 6.63 sen per share a year ago on the back of lower total net income and higher overheads. Quarterly revenue increased 22% to RM1.14 billion in 3QFY2023, from RM933.18 million last year. BIMB announced a cash dividend of 12.59 sen per share — up from 10.4 sen per share last year. Net profit for 9MFY2023 grew 7.88% to RM394.77 million from RM365.93 million, while revenue rose 32.96% to RM3.36 billion from RM2.53 billion, driven by an improvement in healthy loan growth and net income.

$KLCC (5235SS.MY)$: KLCCP Stapled Group's net profit rose 4.96% to RM185.34 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023), from RM176.59 million a year ago, on improved performance from its hotel and management services segments. Quarterly revenue grew 7.27% to RM401.16 million from RM373.98 million. For 9MFY2023, its net profit climbed 8.65% to RM546.7 million from RM503.2 million, as revenue rose 12.48% to RM1.18 billion from RM1.05 billion. It declared a dividend of 8.8 sen per unit, up from eight sen the year before.

$WCEHB (3565.MY)$: WCE Holdings Bhd narrowed its net loss by 41.5% to RM24.17 million in its second financial quarter ended Sep 30, 2023 (2QFY2024), from a loss of RM41.29 million a year earlier, as revenue nearly doubled on higher construction activities for the West Coast Expressway (WCE) project, higher toll revenue and an absence of additional cost provisions recorded a year earlier. Quarterly revenue soared 91% to RM230.51 million from RM120.66 million in 2QFY2023. For 1HFY2024, WCE Holdings incurred a lower net loss of RM50.58 million compared with a net loss of RM55.42 million in the previous year, as revenue jumped 53.4% to RM346.55 million from RM225.87 million.

$FFB (5306.MY)$: Farm Fresh Bhd's net profit rose 14.33% to RM12.79 million for the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (2QFY2024), compared with RM11.19 million a year ago, on lower dairy raw materials costs, improving Australian operations margins and contribution from its ice cream unit Inside Scoop. The group registered its highest quarterly revenue of RM198.3 million in 2QFY2024, up 22.3% from RM162.14 million in 2QFY2023, on increased sales and revenue contribution from Inside Scoop. For 9MFY2024, Farm Fresh's net profit declined by 27.48% to RM19.16 million from RM26.42 million partly on higher marketing and finance costs, despite 9MFY2024 revenue having expanded 25.34% to RM383.76 million from RM306.16 million.

$LHI (6633.MY)$: Poultry, egg and livestock feed producer Leong Hup International Bhd saw its net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (3QFY2023) rise 97.5% to RM132.96 million from RM67.31 million a year earlier, on better margin from higher selling prices of day-old-chicks (DOC) and eggs in Malaysia, and DOC in Indonesia. Quarterly revenue also rose 6.6% to RM2.52 billion in 3QFY2023 from RM2.36 billion a year earlier, on higher selling price and sales volume. It declared an interim dividend of 1.2 sen per share amounting to RM43.8 million for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2023 (FY2023), payable on Jan 29, 2024.