KUALA LUMPUR (May 30): Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd's (MRCB) net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2019 (1QFY19) was down 81% to RM4.14 million, from RM21.53 million a year ago.

The sharp fall in profit was mainly due to the deferment and re-timing of income recognition from the Light Rail Transit Line 3 (LRT3) project. However, the group remains optimistic of its earnings prospects.

In a statement today, MRCB said since work on LRT3 has now resumed, the pace of profit recognition will increase moving forward.

Quarterly revenue declined 45.3% to RM234.05 million from RM427.6 million in the previous corresponding quarter. Earnings per share fell to 0.09 sen, from 0.49 sen previously.

"The group's 50%-owned LRT3 project joint venture company MRCB George Kent Sdn Bhd contributed profit after tax of only RM500,000, compared with RM9 million in the corresponding period in 2018.

"This is considerably lower than previously budgeted due to the deferment of progress billings resulting from the re-modelling of the project from a PDP (project delivery partner) to a fixed price turnkey project by the government," MRCB said in its filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Nonetheless, MRCB said it remains confident that its long-term prospects are positive, with unbilled construction order book standing at RM21.4 billion as at 1QFY19 and land bank amounting to 282.11 acres, worth RM31.07 billion in terms of gross development value.

MRCB's share price gained one sen to close at 93 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM4.09 billion.