Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad Posts Record Profit: 9-month pre-tax profit up 45% to RM269 million

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Kuching (Sarawak), Wednesday, 26 November 2014. Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB -2852), the State’s leading infrastructure facilitator, has continued to deliver a strong performance in the first nine months of 2014 (PE2014). The Group recorded a pre-tax profit (PBT) of RM269.02 million for PE2014, a 45% increase from the corresponding period of last year’s (PE2013) PBT of RM186.15 million. The PBT reported for the third quarter ended 30 September 2014 (3Q14) has also emained strong at RM104.18 million, a 67% increase from the preceding year’s corresponding quarter’s (3Q13) PBT of RM62.53 million and a 6% increase as compared to PBT reported in the second quarter ended 30 June 2014 (2Q14) at RM98.65 million.

Year-on-year, the Group’s profit after tax and non-controlling interests (PATNCI) of RM177.39 million for PE2014 is 62% higher than RM109.73 million for PE2013. Earnings per share stood at 17.20 sen versus 11.04 sen* (adjusted for share split & bonus issue in June 2014) from the corresponding nine-month period of last year.

The main contributors towards the solid PBT earnings for PE2014 were the Cement, Construction & Road Maintenance and Construction Materials & Trading Divisions. The Cement Division recorded a PBT of RM92.42 million in PE2014, a 23% increase in comparison to PE2013’s PBT of RM74.87 million. The Construction Materials & Trading Division reported a higher PBT of RM50.60 million for PE2014, exceeding PE2013’s PBT of RM38.11 million by 33%. This was attributable to the increased business by its trading arm and also the recovery of bad debts. The Construction & Road Maintenance and Property Development Divisions also reported higher revenues and PBT compared to the corresponding nine-month period of last year.

Commenting on the results, Dato’ Richard Curtis, Group Managing Director of CMSB said: “CMSB’s success in recording strong performances in a challenging business environment is attributable to its prudent business model, professional management, and its focus on delivering long-term sustainable growth. Significant achievements have been recorded namely by the Cement, Construction Materials & Trading, Construction & Road Maintenance and Property Development Divisions, which saw robust rises year-on-year in PBT. Our third and fourth quarters are typically the strongest and based on the results for the first nine months of 2014, we can expect a strong financial performance for the full year of 2014 for CMSB”.

“We believe that CMSB is one of the best proxy listed investments for Sarawak’s accelerating economic growth. This is driven by the State’s plan to promote energy intensive industries under the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy (SCORE) initiative and consequently from the infrastructure and related services required across the State. These two drivers are set to propel the State’s economy and CMSB to new heights. CMSB’s 20% stake in the joint venture ferro silicon and manganese alloys smelter project with Australian listed OM Holdings Ltd and 40% stake in an integrated Phosphate Products complex with Malaysian Phosphate Additives Sdn Bhd and Arif Enigma Sdn Bhd – plus other investments being evaluated – are poised to significantly drive up shareholder value. Our strong corporate governance measures, healthy balance sheet and professional management team allow us to maximise our participation in the Sarawak growth story and position ourselves to ensure long-term sustainable growth”, said Dato’ Curtis.

Reflecting the Group’s solid and sustainable performance for several years, the Board of Directors of CMSB is pleased to announce that the Company has adjusted its dividend policy by increasing its net payout ratio from 30% to 40% of its annual consolidated PATNCI to shareholders. This is subject to a minimum of 2 sen per share and other considerations such as the level of available cash and cash equivalents; return on equity and retained earnings; and projected levels of capital expenditure and other investment plans.