CMS sees improvement in earnings for FY17
KUCHING: Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) reported total revenue of RM1.61 billion and a pre-tax profit (PBT) of RM332.79 million for its financial year 2017 (FY17).
Both its revenue and profit before tax increased by four per cent and 10 per cent, respectively, in comparison to the preceding year’s result of RM1.55 billion and RM302.14 million.
Year-on-year, the group’s profit after tax and non-controlling interests (PATNCI) of RM 215.24 million for FY2017 was 27 per cent higher than the RM169.18 million reported for FY2016. Earnings per share (EPS) stood at 20.03 sen versus 15.75 sen for the previous year.
Commenting on the results, CMS Group chief executive officer – Corporate, Datuk Isaac Lugun, said there was an up-swing in the group’s financial performance for FY17 despite the challenging market and operational conditions faced by our Group.
“During the year, demand for construction materials and related services was sluggish but this was offset by the robust performance of our Property Development Division, the strong contribution from our joint ventures and the turnaround of our associate, OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, which was buoyed by the improvement in commodity prices,” he said in a statement yesterday.
“We expect the demand for construction materials and related services to remain sluggish in 2018, but we will start to see some upsides as the Pan Borneo Highway project gathers momentum, raising demand for quarry products and cement-based materials.”
“We are hopeful that spending on recent allocations made by the Federal and State governments for infrastructure and telco-infrastructure will start soon to help boost construction activity in the State. We also expect our strategic investments, through our associates, to continue to positively contribute to the Group’s performance.”
Contributions towards FY2017’s earnings came from all four Divisions. The cement division maintained a healthy PBT level of RM101.34 million, marginally short of FY16’s PBT of RM105 million.
The division’s resilient performance came on the back of the newly commissioned Integrated Cement plant in Mambong, enhanced operational and production efficiencies of the Pending and Bintulu plants, as well as savings from lower coal and key raw material costs.