KUALA LUMPUR (April 11): Aeon Credit Service (M) Bhd was among the top gainers on Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday (April 11), after the company announced record high net profit and revenue earlier in the day for the financial year ended Feb 28, 2023 (FY2023).
The counter, which jumped as much as 40 sen or 3.41% to RM12.12 on Tuesday, was the sixth top gainer on the local bourse. Aeon Credit shares closed at RM11.72 on Monday.
At 5pm on Tuesday, the stock had pared some of its gains and closed at RM11.92, still up 20 sen or 1.71%, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM3.04 billion.
Aeon Credit recorded a net profit of RM95.34 million for the fourth quarter ended Feb 28, 2023 (4QFY2023), four times more than the RM23.38 million it made in 4QFY2022, thanks to lower impairment losses on financing receivables and improved bad debt recoveries, the consumer finance company showed in a bourse filing.
The stronger earnings also came as revenue rose 19.2% to RM432.66 million from RM362.97 million, mainly attributable to stronger loan and financing growth.
For the full FY2023, Aeon Credit’s net profit rose 14.3% to RM417.69 million, from RM365.42 million a year ago, as annual revenue grew 7.57% to RM1.64 billion from RM1.52 billion.
Aeon Credit said the better annual profit was due to an incremental increase in revenue and bad debt recoveries, coupled with lower operating expenses, partly offset by higher impairment losses on financing receivables.
The group declared a financial dividend of 21 sen per share, bringing its total payout for FY2023 to 49.5 sen — the highest since FY2017, when it paid 63 sen per share.