BOUSTEAD Holdings Bhd’s net profit increased 78.8% to RM99.6 million in the third quarter (3Q) ended Sept 30, 2022, from RM55.7 million recorded in the same quarter a year ago.

Revenue was marginally lower at RM3.67 billion from RM3.68 billion, mainly on lower contributions from the plantation and pharmaceutical divisions during the quarter.

For the nine-month period, Boustead’s net profit surged more than fourfold to RM464.3 million from RM91.5 million, while revenue increased 36.8% to RM11.42 billion from RM8.35 billion.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the company said the better performance was mainly due to a one-off gain from the disposal of plantation land of RM367.7 million by the plantation division.

In addition, all other divisions with the exception of heavy industries and pharmaceutical divisions, continued to deliver stronger performance during the period.

The bottom line was also bolstered by a higher share of results from an associate, Affin Bank Bhd.

Boustead said moving forward, Malaysia’s economy was projected to continue expanding for the remainder of 2022 underpinned by domestic demand.

“The outlook for 2023 is also expected to remain favourable despite inflationary pressures, supply chain issues and geopolitical uncertainties.

“With Reinventing Boustead Strategy, the group aims to accelerate value creation with performance improvement programmes, tap into new revenue streams, streamline non-strategic assets and embark into the technology and digital services sectors,” it said. — TMR pic source boustead.com.my