KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 19): Batu Kawan Bhd's third quarter net profit came in at RM131.66 million or 32.28 sen a share, 19.1% higher as compared with RM110.53 million or 26.85 sen a share a year ago,  due to higher dividend income from an oversea investment.

Revenue for the three months ended June 30, 2015 (3QFY15)  grew 20.5% to RM3.64 billion as against RM3.02 billion in 3QFY14, as all segments, except property development, reported higher revenues, according to a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.
 
Batu Kawan  said its property development division’s revenue dropped 9% to RM28.98 million in 3QFY15 from RM31.75 million in 3QFY14. 

For the nine months period (9MFY15), Batu Kawan, however, saw its net profit decline 14.2% to RM369.51 million or 90.59 sen a share from RM430.72 million or 104.62 sen a share in 9MFY14.

Revenue in 9MFY15 increased 16% to RM10.01 billion from RM8.63 billion a year ago.
 
Going forward, Batu Kawan expects its profit for the current financial year ending Sept 30, 2015 (FY15) will be lower than that of the last financial year. 

"The group’s plantations profit for the current financial year is expected to be lower than last financial year with the prevailing low palm products prices. In view of current stiff competition and low fatty alcohol prices, among others, the oleochemical division expects a lower profit from that of the last financial year," said the group.

Shares in Batu Kawan (fundamental: 1.0; valuation:1.4) closed unchanged at RM17.82 today, for a market capitalisation of RM7.25billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)