This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 21, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Malakoff Corp Bhd’s net profit rose 13% to RM94.49 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 from RM83.5 million a year earlier on lower tax expenses incurred during the period. Earnings per share (EPS) increased to 1.93 sen from 1.70 sen previously.

According to the group’s bourse filing, revenue for the quarter fell 3% to RM1.86 billion from RM1.91 billion, due to lower energy payments from its Tanjung Bin Power Sdn Bhd (TBP) coal plant following the plant’s scheduled maintenance outage between August and October.

The group recorded lower profit before tax (PBT) of RM139 million compared with RM165.4 million reported for 3QFY18, primarily due to higher operation and maintenance costs, and the absence of gain from the disposal of a 20% equity interest in Lekir Bulk Terminal Sdn Bhd (LBTSB).

“However, these were partially moderated by improved contribution from Tanjung Bin Energy Sdn Bhd (TBE) coal plant and gain on remeasurement of existing investment in Shuaibah, Saudi Arabia following completion of the acquisition of the entire equity interest in Desaru Investment (Cayman Isl) Ltd,” Malakoff said in a statement.

For the cumulative nine months, net profit rose 13% to RM213.75 million from RM188.95 million for the year-ago period, with EPS improving to 4.37 sen from 3.82 sen, as revenue grew 4% to RM5.68 billion from RM5.46 billion.

The revenue growth was primarily due to higher energy payment recorded from TBP and TBE coal plants on the back of higher applicable coal price, as well as from Segari Energy Ventures Sdn Bhd given the higher dispatch factor, Malakoff said.

Moving forward, the group said it will continue to focus on enhancing the efficiency and reliability of its assets.

“To this end, our TBE plant had undertaken a 73-day scheduled outage in the first half of 2019 and its Unscheduled Outage Rate (UOR) has now dropped to below the contractual rate of 6%,” said Malakoff chief executive officer Datuk Ahmad Fuaad Kenali.

The group expects its overall performance to remain satisfactory for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2019.

Malakoff shares closed four sen or 4.73% higher at 88.5 sen yesterday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM4.33 billion.