1MDB net profit up 74% to RM778m

PETALING JAYA: 1Malaysia Development Bhd, the government's sovereign wealth fund, saw its net profit surge 74% to RM778.24 million for the year ended March 31, 2013 from RM44.72 million a year before.
Revenue in the same 12-month period grew four times to RM2.59 billion from RM633.2 million previously.
However, its liabilities, basically its debts or obligations, ballooned more than five times to RM42.3 billion from RM8.4 billion as at the end of the financial year March 31, 2012.
1MDB's balance sheet showed that its non-current liabilities, that could include long-term borrowing, bonds payable and long-term lease obligations, almost quadrupled to RM30.6 billion from RM7.8 billion previously.
Its short-term liabilities, reflecting short term debt, accounts payable, accrued liabilities and other debts, ballooned more than 21 times to RM11.7 billion from RM560.7 million in the previous year.
It did not pay any dividend in that period.
1MDB had appointed Deloitte, a Big 4 accounting firm, to complete the audit for the year ended March 31, 2013, after mutually agreeing with KPMG that the firm would cease to be 1MDB's auditors.
1MDB's non-current assets, which are company's long-term investments, increased to almost RM31 billion from RM2.15 billion previously, while its current assets grew to RM13.7 billion from RM7.4 billion before.
SunBiz reported on Tuesday that the fund had submitted its accounts to the Companies Commission of Malaysia (SSM) last Friday after a six-month delay.
1MDB, wholly owned by the Minister of Finance Inc, was given a six-month extension to March 31, 2014 tofile its annual returns by SSM, after it failed to do so by Sept 30, 2013.
SSM said that 1MDB had held its AGM on March 31, and that its audited financial statement had been submitted within a one-month period from the AGM date, in accordance with the Act.
Back in February this year, 1MDB released a comprehensive statement to allay concerns over its financial health, saying it is poised to get "strategic value from its energy assets" in both the domestic and global arena.
In the statement, 1MDB said its assets with a high value proposition "can be expected to stimulate markets and bring significant FDI and cash profits to the shareholder – the government of Malaysia – as well as enhance competitiveness towards better pricing."
Last month, 1MDB was awarded an RM11 billion contract to build a 2,000 MW coal-fired power plant dubbed Project 3B, despite its bid being higher than a consortium made up of YTL Corp Bhd and SIPP Energy Sdn Bhd.