BAT declares 43 sen dividend despite 73.9% drop in Q4 profit

PETALING JAYA: British American Tobacco (Malaysia) Bhd (BAT) reported a 73.9% drop in net profit to RM78.2 million for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2017 against RM299.12 million, mainly due to an impairment provision of prepaid excise duties of RM21 million as well as the absence of land sale gain.
Revenue declined 16.7% from RM840.61 million to RM700.16 million.
It has proposed to declare a dividend of 43 sen per share amounting to RM122.78 million for the quarter under review.
BAT said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that the prepaid excise duties are in relation to unutilised tax stamps and tax stamps wastages encountered during the manufacturing process. It is now pending refund from Royal Malaysian Customs (RMC).
“The provision for impairment was made because decision on the refund of prepaid excise duties has yet to be made by the RMC. The group had decided to take a prudent approach by recording the provision. Currently, the group is actively engaging RMC to obtain the refund.”
It also recorded restructuring expenses of RM1.4 million during the quarter comprising on-going cost of the project and outplacement programmes.
BAT said it remains very concerned over with legal volumes continuing to be impacted by the current high incidence of illegal cigarette trade.
“The outlook for 2018 will be very much dependent on the recovery of the legal market.”
BAT’s full-year net profit dropped 34.5% from RM732.07 million to RM479.69 million, while revenue was down by 20.1% from RM3.76 billion to RM3 billion.
Its share price rose 76 sen or 2.4% to close at RM32.88 on some 101,700 shares done.