Malaysia-based Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) reported a 32.5 per cent drop in revenue to MRY282.5m (US$65.9m) in the first quarter of 2020. Its cement segment saw revenues fall by 17.9 per cent to MRY120.2m and was the least-affected part of the business.

Profit before tax declined 57.1 per cent YoY to MYR32.7m with the cement segment being the only one to record a profit. CMS’s cement business saw a 69 per cent rise in profit before tax to MYR144.7m. This resulted in a cement profit margin of 15.5 per cent, up 7.9 percentage points,

The company’s net profit was down 64.4 per cent to MYR92.4m while its core profit declined 21.2 per cent to MYR24.4m. According to analysts at TA Securities, CMS’s  1QFY20 core profit came in within their expectations but below consensus’ forecast, accounting for 22.5 per cent and 15.7 per cent of their and consensus’ full-year estimates.