YTL's Q2 net profit soars 75pct quarter-on-quarter to RM85mil

NST, February 26, 2021

KUALA LUMPUR: YTL Corporation Bhd's net profit surged 75 per cent to RM85.4 million in the three months ended December 31, 2020, compared with RM48.7 million net profit in the preceding quarter ended September 30, 2020.

Executive chairman Tan Sri Dr. Francis Yeoh Sock Ping said the group's net profit had soared as its merchant multi-utilities business segment in Singapore performed better despite the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The segment had a solid turnaround," he said in a statement.

Yeoh said the group's construction and cement segments also did better in the quarter under review.

The two business segments continued to navigate the ongoing movement control conditions to turn in strong performances for the quarter under review, he said.

YTL Corp's revenue increased 10 per cent to RM4.6 billion in the quarter under review versus RM4.18 billion posted in the quarter before that, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) stood at RM2 billion for the six months ended December 31, 2020, remaining resilient in the face of the pandemic.

The group's power arm, YTL Power International Bhd recorded a 4.5 per cent increase in revenue to RM2.61 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2020, compared with RM2.5 billion for the preceding quarter.

Its net profit doubled to RM156 million for the quarter ended December 31 2020 from RM77.88 million in the preceding quarter.

Yeoh said the significant improvement in YTL Power's profit for the current quarter under review resulted primarily from a better performance recorded by YTL PowerSeraya Pte Ltd, a subsidiary company that is carrying out the group's merchant multi-utilities business in Singapore.

"The essential nature of YTL Power's businesses has ensured that these services continue to function despite restrictions imposed to curb the ongoing pandemic and EBITDA for the first half of the 2021 financial year stood strong at RM1.4 billion, approximating performance for the same period last year," he said.

Malayan Cement Bhd registered a lower revenue of RM350.5 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020, compared with RM367.9 million for the previous quarter due to a decline in domestic cement sales volumes.

Yeoh said the lower sales volume was partially offset by an increase in cement and clinker exports in addition to higher cement sales by a Singapore subsidiary.

Malayan Cement's pre-tax loss was RM6.4 million for the quarter under review compared with a pre-tax profit of RM1.3 million posted in the preceding quarter.

This was due to the decline in domestic cement sales volumes resulting from the disruption to construction activities upon the reinstatement of the Conditional Movement Control Order in most parts of Peninsular Malaysia in early November 2020.

"For the cumulative six months ended December 31, 2020, Malayan Cement registered EBITDA of RM96.1 million, with the loss for the period narrowing significantly to just RM6.8 million compared to a loss of RM72.3 million for the same period last year, an improvement of 91 per cent," Yeoh said.

He said the improvement was due mainly to better margins on domestic cement sales, improved efficiencies in production costs, and ongoing rationalisation efforts since YTL Cement acquired its majority stake in Malayan Cement in mid-2019.

YTL Hospitality REIT's revenue was flat at RM78.8 million for the current quarter ended December 31, 2020.

Net property income (NPI) stood at RM49.1 million for the quarter under review over RM53 million in the previous quarter, whilst income available for distribution increased to RM17.4 million for the three months ended December 31, 2020, compared with RM16.8 million in the preceding quarter.

Yeoh, who is also executive chairman of Pintar Projek Sdn Bhd, the manager of YTL Hospitality REIT said: "In the trust's hotel segment, revenue recorded from the Australian portfolio this quarter remained consistent with last quarter mainly due to participation of the trust's hotels in the Australian government's isolation programmes.

"However, the Australian portfolio incurred a decrease in NPI due to the cessation of government subsidies received by Brisbane Marriott from October 2020."

Yeoh said in the property rental segment, revenue and NPI from the Malaysian and Japanese properties remained at similar levels compared with the previous financial quarter.