Taliworks using cash reserves to pay dividend

PETALING JAYA: Taliworks Corp Bhd saw a 37% jump in net profit for the first three months of this year despite lower income contribution from its construction and toll highway businesses due to the movement control order.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company said the hike in earnings for the quarter was mainly due to lower interest payment by its subsidiary’s debt and higher dividend from investments.

“However, the higher pre-tax profit was negatively impacted by lower contribution from the toll division and higher share of losses from an associate, SWM Environment Holdings Sdn Bhd,” it said.

For the first quarter ended March 31, Taliworks posted a higher net profit of Rm15.91mil compared with Rm11.65mil a year ago.

Its revenue for the quarter has dropped 5.5% to Rm84.25mil from Rm88.87mil previously.

Taliworks said it has tapped into some of its cash reserves to pay a total of Rm33.26mil dividend to its shareholders.

The group declared a higher dividend of 1.65 sen dividend per share for the first quarter of this year compared with 1.20 sen last year.

Taliworks planned to pay the dividend on June 19.

Its cash position was reduced to Rm535.7mil from Rm715.8mil previously.

Taliworks said its operating profit was largely driven by the performance of the water treatment, supply and distribution business and to a certain extent the toll division.

“We saw commendable results for the start of the year, as our first quarter earnings were in line with our expectations, despite the compounding unprecedented challenges associated with the Covid-19 pandemic.

“The pandemic has affected the global economy. It is tough for everyone to anticipate the uncertainties forthcoming,” said Taliworks executive director Datuk Ronnie Lim in a statement.