KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 16): Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd - in which Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has a 28.51% stake - announced its net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (4QFY14) dropped 30.6% to RM37.11 million or 8.07 sen per share from RM53.49 million or 11.63 sen per share.
 
The steep decline was attributed to higher expenditure - related to stevedore services, handling of alumina, bulk fertiliser and the amortisation of intangible assets - which jumped 10.6% to RM102.19 million from RM92.37 million previously, its filing to Bursa Malaysia this evening showed.

The weaker earnings notwithstanding, Bintu Port (fundamental: 2.3; valuation: 2.1) declared an interim dividend of 6 sen per share for teh quarter, bringing its total dividend announced in FY14 to 18 sen per share, down 20% from 22.5 sen per share declared in FY13.

Revenue in 4QFY14, however, jumped 8.6% to RM148.76 million from RM137 million, on recognition of its construction services for concession infrastructure of RM89.40 million, in relation to the port's improvement project at its wholly owned subsidiary Bintulu Port Sdn Bhd (RM200,000) and the port's development project at Samalaju (RM89.2 million)

Meanwhile, for the full year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY14), Bintulu Port's net profit slipped 9% to RM143.27 million or 31.14 sen per share from RM157.71 million or 36.23 sen per share, while revenue advanced 4.2% to RM552.27 million from RM529.78 million.

"The profit before taxation of RM192.71 million in FY14 is higher by RM4.54 million compared to FY13's RM188.17 million.  This is contributed by the higher revenue from the handling of container, project cargo, palm oil bulking and alumina," it noted.
 
This financial year (FY15), Bintulu Port said the handling of liquefied natural gas (LNG) vessel calls and cargoes will still be its most important revenue contributor.
 
"However, the market environment for LNG is expected to be challenging. The bulking operation is expected to contribute positively towards revenue growth," the group added.

The stock ended unchanged at RM7 today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM3.22 billion.

(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.)