KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 18): Hong Leong Industries Bhd fell 1.84% in thin trade this morning after it plunged into the red for its fourth quarter ended June 30 with a net loss of RM104.57 million, compared with a net profit of RM69.49 million a year ago, due to a one-off full impairment provision of its investment in Malaysian Newsprint Industries Sdn Bhd (MNI).

At 9.33am, the stock fell 18 sen to RM9.60 with 47,600 shares done.

It had made a RM172 million provision for its investment in MNI, which had commenced creditors' voluntary winding up proceedings.

Meanwhile, Hong Leong Industries’s quarterly revenue saw a slight downturn, dipping to RM569.01 million from RM573.6 million a year earlier.

For its full year ended June 30 (FY17), it saw net profit more than halve to RM103.09 million from RM247.22 million in FY16, owing to impairment provision.

If not for the impact of the provision, profit before tax for the year would have risen 6.12% to RM364 million from RM343 million in FY16, mainly due to higher profit contribution from an associate, it added.

Revenue for the year was up 4.11% at RM2.28 billion compared with RM2.19 billion previously.

Hong Leong Industries expects a “satisfactory” performance for consumer products in FY18.