MY Morning Wrap | RHB Bank's Q1 Net Profit Down 4.1% as Higher Provisions Offset Income Growth

As a general recap, the market fell Wednesday. Just after 4 PM EST, the $S&P 500 Index (.SPX.US)$ traded -0.74%, the $Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI.US)$ fell about 1.06%, and the $Nasdaq Composite Index (.IXIC.US)$ fell 0.58%.

$RHBBANK (1066.MY)$: RHB Bank, Malaysia's fourth-largest banking group by assets, has reported a 4.1% drop in net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to the same period a year ago, due to higher provisions and operating expenses. Net profit for 1QFY2024 was RM730.17 million, compared to RM761.67 million in 1QFY2023. However, net interest income rose 9.7% year-on-year to RM1.58 billion, while non-interest income rose 7.2% to RM504.10 million. The bank did not declare any dividend for the quarter.

$CAPITALA (5099.MY)$: Capital A Bhd, the owner of low-cost carrier AirAsia, has posted a net loss of RM91.55 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, marking its third consecutive quarterly loss, due to a massive foreign exchange loss and depreciation charges. The company incurred RM370.9 million in forex losses and RM358.5 million in aircraft depreciation charges, while revenue more than doubled to RM5.24 billion, the highest quarterly revenue since its listing in November 2004, driven by strong demand recovery from domestic and international travel. No dividend was declared for the quarter.

$AXIATA (6888.MY)$: Axiata Group, Malaysia's biggest mobile carrier by revenue, has reported a 19% drop in net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to the same period a year ago, mainly due to higher foreign exchange losses and finance costs. Net profit for 1QFY2024 was RM60.03 million, compared to RM73.85 million in 1QFY2023. However, the group snapped its recent streak of losses, during which it posted three consecutive quarterly losses: RM695 million in 4QFY2023, RM797.4 million in 3QFY2023, and RM576.2 million in 2QFY2023. Quarterly revenue increased 13% year-on-year to RM5.66 billion from RM5.00 billion. The telco did not propose any dividend for the quarter.

$TIMECOM (5031.MY)$: Telecommunication provider TIME dotCom Bhd has reported a 3.35% drop in net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to the same period a year ago, driven by higher personnel costs, depreciation for property, plant, and equipment, as well as lower net foreign exchange gains. Net profit for 1QFY2024 was RM110.67 million or 5.99 sen per share, compared to RM114.51 million or 6.23 sen per share in 1QFY2023. Revenue, however, climbed 13.4% to RM417.77 million, thanks to higher growth across all customer groups, with the largest coming from enterprise, followed by retail and wholesale customers. TIME recorded a one-off non-recurring revenue of RM8.1 million from cloud and other services. Excluding this item, revenue growth would have been 11.2%. No dividend was declared for the quarter.

$IHH (5225.MY)$: IHH Healthcare Bhd has reported a 45% drop in net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to the same period a year ago, as earnings in the preceding year's corresponding quarter were boosted by disposal gains. Net profit for 1QFY2024 was RM767.97 million, compared to RM1.39 billion in 1QFY2023, when the company booked gains of RM981.42 million from the sale of IMU Health Sdn Bhd and Gleneagles Chengdu Hospital. However, quarterly revenue grew 16% year-on-year to a record high of RM5.96 billion from RM5.14 billion, thanks to higher demand, a case-mix of more acute patients, and price adjustments to counter inflation. New acquisitions also contributed to the increase. The company did not declare any dividend for the quarter.

$PETGAS (6033.MY)$: Petronas Chemicals Group Bhd has reported a 26% rise in net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to the same period a year ago, thanks to foreign exchange gains as well as lower energy and utilities costs. Net profit for 1QFY2024 was RM668.00 million, compared to RM532.00 million in 1QFY2023. However, revenue for the quarter slipped 0.8% year-on-year to RM7.50 billion from RM7.56 billion. The company did not declare any dividend for the quarter.

$FFB (5306.MY)$: Farm Fresh Bhd has reported a 27% rise in net profit for the financial year ended March 31, 2024, compared to the previous year, as full-year revenue surged to RM810.41 million from RM629.69 million. Net profit for FY2024 was RM63.53 million, compared to RM50.08 million a year ago. For the fourth quarter, net profit rose to RM23.93 million from RM4.89 million, while revenue increased 33.26% to RM215.03 million compared to RM161.36 million. The company did not declare any dividend.

$IJM (3336.MY)$: IJM Corp Bhd has reported a more than 10-fold rise in net profit for the fourth quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to the same quarter a year ago, thanks to a sharp rise in other operating income. The construction giant's other operating income soared to RM241.79 million from RM71 million in the previous corresponding quarter, while quarterly revenue jumped 32.6% to RM1.76 billion from RM1.33 billion, driven by improvements across all segments except for its infrastructure toll division. The company declared a single-tier second interim dividend of five sen and a special dividend of one sen to be paid on July 19, bringing total dividend payment for the full financial year ended March 31, 2024, to eight sen per share, similar to FY2023.

$KERJAYA (7161.MY)$: Kerjaya Prospek Group Bhd has reported a 14% rise in net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, compared to the same period a year ago, on the back of a 13% rise in revenue, thanks to an improvement in the progress of construction work activities. Net profit for 1QFY2024 was RM33.55 million, compared to RM29.41 million in 1QFY2023, while revenue increased to RM337.14 million from RM297.25 million. The company declared a first interim single-tier dividend of 2.5 sen per share to be paid on July 5. The company is also bidding for construction projects worth over RM3 billion this year, including data centers and semiconductor factories, with a partnership with Samsung C&T Corp for two of the jobs. The company expects to take up around 30% in the projects, according to Kerjaya's CEO Tee Eng Tiong.

$MYEG (0138.MY)$: MyEG Services Bhd has reported its highest quarterly net profit of RM155.83 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, on the back of an increase in revenue. Net profit came in 47.1% higher than the RM105.83 million reported for the same quarter a year earlier, while earnings per share rose to 2.1 sen from 1.4 sen in 1QFY2023. Quarterly revenue increased 34.48% year-on-year to RM232.96 million from RM173.22 million. The company did not announce any dividends for the quarter.

$LAGENDA (7179.MY)$: Lagenda Properties Bhd has confirmed that one of its senior personnel was remanded by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) under an investigation into the subdivision of Malay reserve land in Manjung, Perak. However, the property developer said it is business as usual, according to the head of investments and investor relations Jasrinderjit Singh Dhillon, who did not identify the personnel. The board of directors and executive director Andy Chua Seng Hooi will be taking over the leadership for now, as Lagenda's six-member board consists of non-executive directors except for managing director Datuk Doh Jee Ming. Local media had reported that a managing director of a real estate company had been remanded by the anti-graft body for four days to assist in an investigation concerning the subdivision of Malay reserve land in Manjung, Perak, but Jasrinderjit noted that, as far as Lagenda was aware, that sole senior personnel is the only individual to be remanded, and the investigation does not concern the group nor any of its units.