NST Business
KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd’s (MRCB) net profit rose to RM33.45 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 (Q2 2018) from RM24.04 million a year ago, on the back of a stronger performance from the engineering, construction and environment division.
Revenue declined to RM405.24 million from RM725.27 million previously, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.
MRCB group managing director Imran Salim said: “We are very encouraged to see continued profit growth in the first half of 2018. As anticipated the stronger performance was driven by better margins in our engineering, construction and environment division, which is expected to be a significant contributor moving forward.
“As one of the largest construction players in the country, the division has a good pipeline of contracts to sustain its business over many years,” he added.
The division saw operating profits increase 168.1 per cent to RM41.0 million during the period, mainly due to the progress of the group’s on-going projects and other value engineering initiatives implemented to reduce construction costs.
It has an external order book of RM6.5 billion and an unbilled order book of RM5.1 billion.
The property development and investment division recorded an 8.1 per cent decrease in revenue to RM413.9 million, and saw operating profit fall to RM55.1 million from RM77.9 million in the corresponding period in 2017.
The higher revenue and operating profit recorded in the same period last year was mainly due to the construction completion of the group’s Eastern Burwood apartment development in Melbourne, which was largely recognised in the corresponding period in 2017.
The main revenue contributors in the first half of 2018 were the group’s on-going property development projects, which include 9 Seputeh in Jalan Klang Lama, PJ Sentral Garden City, Sentral Suites and Kalista Park Homes, and the sales of completed units from Sentral Residences, Q Sentral and Easton Burwood.
The sale of a piece of development land in Penang also contributed a profit before tax of RM31.3 million, while recurring income from MRCB-Quill REIT and MRCB Quill Management Sdn Bhd contributed RM9.5 million.
Unbilled property sales at the end of the first half of 2018 totaled RM1.7 billion.