KUALA LUMPUR: PPB Group Bhd
saw its earnings climb 13.5% to RM324.69mil in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2014, boosted by the flour and feed milling and grains trading segment.
It announced on Wednesday profit before tax rose 25% to RM366mil from the RM293mil. Its revenue increased by 11.7% to RM927.96mil from RM830.39mil. Its earnings per share were 27.39 sen compared with 24.13 sen.
PPB Group said the higher revenue was boosted by the flour and feed milling and grains trading segment while other segments also recorded higher revenue.
For the nine months, its earnings fell 9.5% to RM635.34mil from RM701.88mil. Profit before tax fell 2% to RM732mil from RM748mil mainly due to lower profit contribution from an associate, Wilmar International Ltd.
Under the flour and feed milling, and grains trading, revenue increased by 13% to RM588mil in 3Q2014 and 16% to RM1.75bil for 9M2014 from RM520mil and RM1.51bil respectively.
Higher flour sales volume in Indonesia, Vietnam and Malaysia coupled with the increased animal feed sales volume contributed to the growth in segment revenue for 3Q2014 and 9M2014, it said.
PPB Group said profit from the segment increased significantly to RM76mil in 3Q2014 and RM164mil for 9M2014 mainly due to the favourable grains trading performance, higher sales volume of flour and animal feed as well as the improvement in net foreign exchange translation positions.
Its marketing, distribution and manufacturing of consumer products segment registered a 7% growth in revenue to RM113mil in 3Q2014 and a 13% growth to RM337mil for
9M2014. Its profit rose 20% to RM7.6mil in 3Q2014 and 33% to RM23mil for 9M2014.
As for its film exhibition and distribution, revenue rose 9% to RM89mil in 3Q2014 and 8% to RM275mil for 9M2014.
This was mainly due to improved cinema collections from blockbuster movies released for the Chinese New Year and summer season this year. Higher contribution from concessions and screen advertising income as well as additional revenue from new cinemas opened in 2013 also contributed to the increase.
This segment recorded profit of RM15mil in 3Q2014 compared with RM11mil a year ago while for the nine months, profit before tax grew 22% to RM47mil.
PPB Group said its associates and joint venture contributed higher profits of RM257mil in 3Q2014 compared with RM245mil a year ago, of which Wilmar's portion was RM247mil against RM245mil a year ago.
For 9M2014, the associates and joint venture contributed lower profits of RM462mil compared with RM562mil for 9M2013.
Wilmar contributed RM443mil in 9M2014 against RM546mil in 9M2013 due to the continued margin contractions in palm and laurics as well as the negative soybean crushing margins in 1Q2014.
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