KUALA LUMPUR: Hextar Industries Berhad (HIB) registered a quarterly consolidated revenue of RM269 million, profit before tax of RM28.2 million and profit after tax (PAT) of RM20.4 million for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QE2023).
This is HIB’s highest quarterly revenue and profit reported since HIB was listed on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities in 2014.
As announced on August 18, 2022, HIB has changed its financial year end from August 31 to 31 December. As such, there is no comparative figures for the corresponding quarter whereas the preceding quarter (6th quarter ended 31 December 2022) represents only one month financial results.
The outstanding results achieved in 1QE2023 follows the consolidation of Hextar Fertilizers Limited and its subsidiary companies (HFL Group) into the HIB Group. HIB has adopted the merger accounting method for the consolidation which allows the financial results of the HFL Group to be consolidated retrospectively for the financial period ended 31 December 2022 (FPE2022).
Accordingly, HIB recorded revenue of RM1.29 billion and PAT of RM98 million for the 16-month FPE 2022. Prior to the merger with HFL Group, HIB only recorded annual revenue of RM123 million and PAT of RM1.9 million for the financial year ended August 31, 2021 (FYE2021).
Commenting on the Group’s 1QE2023 results, Group managing director Benny Ang said, “The average profit of HIB has improved with the three months’ PAT in 2023 of RM20.4 million as compared to last year’s (FPE2022) 16-months’ PAT of RM98 million. The improvement of the profit in 1QE2023 is principally attributed by higher gross profit margin. The delivery of fertilisers is picking up gradually in the first quarter of 2023 after the monsoon season. The enlarged HIB Group is now well-positioned to increase revenue and customer base through the HFL Group’s extensive distribution network. With the consolidation of HFL Group, our manufacturing facilities are now strategically located in Bintulu, Lahad Datu, Port Klang and Pasir Gudang. Ourannual NPK compaction and NPK steam granulation production capacity of approximately800,000 metric tonne provides us the leverage to tap into a bigger market and establish HIB as a market leader in the fertiliser industry.”
Executive director Alex Shamr added that “We are actively expanding our product range to cater to different customer needs. We have special foliar fertilisers and specially formulated NPK fertilisers to increase efficiency in nutrient uptake and also to improve soil health. In addition, we are producing environment friendly plant-based organic fertilisers. For market expansion, there is substantial room to gain higher market share in the export market. Moving forward, we will focus on expanding the export market to fuel the growth of the Group, particularly in Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Myanmar and Philippines.”
