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PETALING JAYA: MISC Bhd recorded a 24.5% increase in net profit to RM399.8 million in the second quarter ended June 30, 2019 compared with RM321.2 million in the same quarter of the previous year, attributed to improvements from its liquefied natural gas (LNG) and petroleum segments.
The group’s revenue rose slightly by 0.9% to RM2.16 billion from RM2.14 billion previously.
MISC has declared an interim dividend of 7 sen per share, payable on September 18.
According to the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia, LNG’s operating profit came in at RM318.9 million, a 16.1% increase from RM274.6 million registered in the same quarter in 2018, mainly due to higher number of operating vessels in the quarter following the acquisition of two LNG carriers in December 2018 and January 2019.
The petroleum division registered an operating profit of RM33.1 million against the RM54.4 loss reported for the corresponding quarter of the previous year, driven by higher freight rates achieved especially for the Aframax vessels.
As for the heavy engineering segment, a lower loss of RM8.6 million was recorded compared with RM46 million loss in the same quarter of the previous year, attributed to the improvement in the progress of ongoing projects and LNG dry-dockings.
Meanwhile, the offshore segment recorded a lower profit of RM139.6 million against RM146.6 million in the previous quarter which included the construction gains from FSO Benchamas 2.
MISC expects the second half of the year to pick up for the tanker market due to vessels taken out of service for scrubber retrofitting. The tanker market would be boosted by increasing US oil exports and increase in tonne-mile demand.
“Shipping rates have firmed up in recent months and are expected to pick up gradually on the back of peak summer demand in Asia and Europe and vessels are expected to be in short supply in the later part of 2019,” said MISC.
With regards to the heavy engineering segment, the group expects offshore oil and gas production activities continue to improve, albeit moderately despite the uncertainties stemming from trade and geopolitical tensions.
For the first six months of the year, MISC’s net profit surged 44.1% to RM910.3 million from RM631.8 million recorded in the corresponding period of last year, while revenue was up 6.6% to RM4.44 billion from RM4.16 billion.
