CMSB 3Q profit drops 7%

Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMSB)’s net profit declined seven per cent to MYR72.83m (US$17.451m) in the 3Q19, ended 30 September 2019 from MYR78.02m in the 3Q18. The company’s revenue remained stable at MYR467.18m (3Q18: MYR465.17m).

The fall was attributed to rising sales costs and a decrease in other income. Cost of sales advanced three per cent to MYR371.29m in the 3Q19 from MYR362.13m in the year-ago period. Other income decreased 63 per cent to MYR3.67m from MYR10.02m over the same period.

January-September 2019
In the January-September 2019 period CMSB revenue increased six per cent to MYR1.28bn from MYR1.22bn in the 9M18. Net profit declined by 26 per cent to MYR154.93m from MYR208.62 over the same period.

The lower profit was due to weaker profits reported by the group’s associate company OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd as a result of the depressed commodity market, the company said. Morover, CMSB’s cement, construction and road maintenance and property development businesses reported lower profits.

Outlook
CMSB remains positive on its longer-term prospects despite a challenging outlook for OM Material (Sarawak) due to macro-economic factors. “Once the market rebounds, as forecasted from the second half of 2020 onwards, we are confident that OM Materials (Sarawak) will again post stellar financial performance as it did in 2018,” said the company.