by TMR

Hong Leong Industries Bhd recorded a RM106.55 million net profit for its fourth quarter ended June 30 this year (4Q18) against a RM104.57 million net loss in 4Q17 on higher profit from the motorcycle business coupled with the absence of an impairment from its newspaper business.

In an exchange filing yesterday, the consumer and industrial product manufacturer noted it incurred a RM172 million one-off impairment for the investment in its newsprint business via its 23.65% stake in Malaysia Newsprint Industries Sdn Bhd.

It 4Q18 earnings benefited from a RM60 million impairment write-back from the same investment while profit from the motorcycle business helped offset the lower profit from an associate company.

Revenue for the quarter was 6.1% higher at RM603.6 million versus the RM569.01 million in 4Q17. For the full financial year (FY18), net profit was 224.6% higher year-on-year (YoY) at RM334.59 million while revenue rose 9.6% YoY to RM2.5 billion.

Total dividends for the fiscal year is 47 sen. Going forward, the company noted its consumer business is to be satisfactory but anticipates the industrial segment to be challenging in FY19.