Dialog starts new financial year on strong note

Quarterly earnings of group double to RM161mil

PETALING JAYA: Dialog Group Bhd kicked off its new financial year on a strong note, almost doubling its earnings in the first quarter ended Sept 30 to RM160.92mil.

The oil and gas services firm told Bursa Malaysia that the 97.9% growth in its bottom line was partly due to a RM65.6mil fair value gain after the group acquired the remaining 45% equity interest in a jointly controlled entity, Centralised Terminals Sdn Bhd (CTSB), from MISC Bhd.

CTSB owns an 80% equity interest in two tank terminals in Tanjung Langsat, Johor, that cater to the oil, gas and petrochemical industry.

Even excluding the fair value gain, Dialog showed a commendable performance, with pre-tax profit rising 26.3% to RM120.77mil.

Jointly controlled entities and associates contributed an after-tax profit of RM27.1mil for the quarter under review, up 8.1% against the corresponding period last year.

Dialog attributed this growth to improved contributions from the group’s terminal operations in Pengerang, Tanjung Langsat and Kertih.

Total revenue, meanwhile, grew 19.1% to RM778.66mil.

Revenue from the Malaysian operations increased by 24.4%, mainly contributed by the midstream and downstream activities, in particular the engineering and construction, and plant maintenance activities from various projects.

However, the higher revenue from these activities was partially offset by the slower upstream activities and lower sales in specialist products and services, Dialog said.

The international operations remained healthy during this period, registering a 7.9% increase in revenue.

“The higher revenue from the sales of specialist products and technical services recorded in Indonesia, Thailand and India were partially offset by lower engineering and construction activities in Singapore,” it said.

On its prospects, Dialog said the group was optimistic that its performance would remain strong for the financial year ending June 30, 2018.

Moving forward, the group would continue to grow its core businesses with recurring income, especially in expanding its logistics businesses, which include storage tank terminals and the supply base, it added.

The ongoing operations of the 1.3 million-cu metre Pengerang Deepwater Terminal Phase 1 is now being expanded by an additional 430,000 cu metres.

Moreover, the construction of Phase 2 is on schedule.

“We are also securing new potential partners for Phase 3, which will include the development of industrial land and more petroleum and petrochemical storage terminals. Phase 3 and future phases will be developed on a total of about 800 acres, comprising reclaimable land and the buffer zone,” it said.

Dialog also plans to expand Langsat Terminal (three) into a 300,000-cu metre storage facility in line with the group’s strategy to grow sustainable and recurring income, thereby further enhancing shareholder value in the long term.