KUALA LUMPUR: Dialog Group Bhd’s net profit for its second quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (2QFY15) rose 20% year-on-year to RM79.75 million or 1.62 sen a share.

This was achieved despite its 2QFY15 revenue having come in 17.84% lower at RM570.29 million,  compared with RM694.16 million the previous year.

While there was higher revenue recorded from upstream activities, Dialog (fundamental: 1.70; valuation: 0.70) told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the completion of the Pengerang deepwater terminals Phase 1A and 1B in the last financial year had resulted in lower engineering and construction activities in the current quarter, hence translating into overall lower revenue.

International revenue in 2QFY15 reduced by 19% against the same period last year.

“This was mainly attributable to low activities in engineering and construction in Singapore, fabrication in Australia and New Zealand, and lower sales of specialist products and services in India and Brunei,” it said.

The higher profit was attributable to a better margin registered in the upstream activities in Malaysia, and a gain on the disposal of the group’s other investment, said Dialog.

For the six months ended Dec 31, 2014, Dialog’s net profit was 13.65% higher at RM129.65 million, while revenue dipped 12.43% to RM1.11 billion.

On the brighter side, the group said falling oil prices would lower the overall costs of processing, manufacturing and production of a wide range of petroleum and petrochemical products.

“This would have a positive impact on the midstream and downstream sectors of the oil and gas industry,” said Dialog.

Dialog noted it is now working towards securing new potential partners for the subsequent phases of the Pengerang deepwater terminal, which include the development of more petroleum, petrochemical and liquefied natural gas storage terminals.

“Barring unforeseen circumstances, the group is confident of continuing to deliver a healthy performance for the financial year ending June 30, 2015.”

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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 10, 2015.