PETALING JAYA: Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) Research says it is still hopeful for Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd
’s phosphate plant to narrow its losses going forward, leading to the group breaking even in the third quarter of 2026 and generating profit thereafter.
This was despite Cahya Mata Sarawak’s weak results in the fourth quarter of the 2025 financial year (FY25).
The earnings shortfall was largely due to the outlay of RM14.2mil in pre-commissioning costs for its phosphate plant after the electricity supply was restored in September 2025 and lower-than-expected road maintenance earnings.
In a note to clients, Maybank IB said it trimmed Cahya Mata Sarawak’s FY26 and FY27 earnings estimates by 8% per annum due to housekeeping changes.
The research house also introduced FY28 earnings estimates, implying a 9% year-on-year (y-o-y) growth.
“We still expect core net profit to grow by 33% compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) from FY25 to FY27 due to the phosphate plant ramping up.
“The FY28 forecast earnings growth of 9% y-o-y is due to margin improvements as its new 6,000 tonnes per day clinker plant commences production in the second half of 2027 (2H27) and 1H28 and reduces Cahya Mata Sarawak’s need to import more expensive foreign-sourced clinker,” the research house noted.
Maybank IB has maintained a “buy” call on the stock but with a lower target price of RM1.72 per share, down 8% from RM1.87 per share earlier.
“We forecast Cahya Mata Sarawak to generate a three-year forward core net profit CAGR of 24%,” it added.
