Industrial division powers Sime Darby's Q3 net profit

Sime Darby group CEO Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson said SDGSC had served it well in enhancing efficiency and productivity since 2008.

KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Bhd's net profit rose by 64% to RM222mil in the third quarter ended March 31, 2019 from a year ago, boosted by the strong performance of its industrial division.

It announced on Wednesday the net profit was a sharp improvement from the RM135mil a year ago. 

Sime Darby said its revenue rose by 3.2% to RM8.66bil from RM8.29bil a year afgo while profit before tax increased by 47.1% to RM331mil.

“Excluding one-off gains, impairments and provisions, the group’s core PBIT for the quarter rose 28.1% to RM337mil year-on-year while its core net profit saw a 32.6% on-year hike to RM228mil,” it said.

For the nine month period, its net profit fell by 56.5% to RM764mil from RM1.756bil in the previous corresponding period due to discontinued operations.  Its revenue rose by 6.25% to RM26.83bil from RM25.25bil.

Sime Darby said the group’s continuing operations posted a 67.9% increase in net profit to RM764mil from RM455mil.

“This was substantially due to the strong performance of the industrial division’s Australasian operations,” it said.
 
Sime Darby group CEO Datuk Jeffri Salim Davidson said the group continued to benefit from improved trading conditions in the mining and construction sectors in Australia. 

“We expect these improved conditions to continue, as miners increase expenditure for both equipment replacement cycles and expansion,” he said.

The group’s results for the period also included the recognition of the arbitration award received for the ONGC Wellhead project of RM26mil and a gain on the disposal of trademark of RM17mil.