KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 5): PPB Group Bhd, controlled by billionaire Robert Kuok, expects to record revenue growth this year driven largely by its flour and animal feed milling and grain segments.

PPB (fundamental: 2.7; valuation: 0.6), managing director Lim Soon Huat said the company was optimistic about its prospects for financial year ending December 31, 2015.

"The flour, feed milling and grains segments have always been the largest contributor among our core segments," Lim told reporters after a briefing on the company's prospects here today.

In FY14, the flour, animal feed and grains segments contributed 61% to PPB's total revenue of RM3.701 billion, he said.

While revenue rose from a year earlier, PPB's profit had, however, fallen. According to PPB's statement to the exchange earlier, net profit was lower at RM916.78 million versus RM982.57 million.

"For FY2014, group recorded profit before tax of RM1.03 billion which was 3% lower than the RM1.06 billion for FY2013, mainly due to reduced profit contribution from Wilmar (International Ltd), lower profits from investment in equities and losses in the packaging business reported within other operations," PPB said.

Singapore-listed Wilmar's businesses include oil palm cultivation, oilseed crushing, and edible oil refining.

Today, PPB shares fell 42 sen or 3% to settle at RM14.54 at 12:30pm.

(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.)