KUALA LUMPUR: UEM Edgenta Bhd’s net profit slipped to RM11.16 million in the first quarter ended March 31, 2020 (Q1 2020) from RM32.66 million registered in the same period last year.
Revenue fell to RM 501.87 million from RM515.88 million previously due to headwinds experienced across all segments, it said in a filing to Bursa Malaysia today.
Reviewing its performance, the company said the Asset Management’s revenue in Q1 2020 decreased slightly by RM0.7 million from Q1 2019, mainly due to cessation of township management projects in prior year by the Property and Facility Solutions (PFS) division.
This is mitigated by better revenue from the Healthcare Support (HS) division from more healthcare support work done in Singapore and Taiwan, though this was offset by lower contribution from the Malaysian operations.
Revenue from Infrastructure Solutions decreased by RM13.3 million due to lower consultancy work done for East Malaysia projects by the Asset Consultancy (AC) division, while the Infrastructure Services division also recorded lower revenue from less routine maintenance and traffic management work done for expressways and rail projects, respectively.
In a statement, chairman Tan Sri Dr Azmil Khalid said the company is cautious of the outlook for the year on the back of rising operating costs to deliver its services and ongoing effects brought about by COVID-19 pandemic.
“The company’s management will remain vigilant and proactive in protecting our margins and managing risks under the current operating environment, while taking prudent steps to continue introducing technology-driven operational excellence initiatives to derive operational efficiencies.
“Our agility and staunch commitment to operational excellence over the years proved vital in delivering uninterrupted healthcare support services at the frontlines during this pandemic, working together with our clients at public and private hospitals throughout the region,“ he said.
Azmil said that other than HS services, UEM Edgenta continued to perform highway and building maintenance, and sanitisation and disinfection works for its clients throughout the movement control order period.
The HS division has been proactively supporting frontline efforts related to the COVID-19 pandemic across the region, where it presently serves over 300 hospitals in Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan and India.
The division also incurred an increase in operating and manpower costs in response to implementation of national minimum wage in Malaysia and Taiwan.
On a positive note, the HS division was able to secure new contracts from the Sengkang General Hospital and Changi General Hospital in Singapore during this period.
The PFS division was recently awarded integrated facility management services contract for CIMB Bank Bhd’s branch network and facilities nationwide, which increases the division’s operations coverage to over 300 buildings.
In addition, the AC division, represented by Opus Consultants, is currently the project management consultant for the Sarawak Coastal Road Network and Second Trunk Roads projects and has managed to secure the contract for Phase 2 of this project administered by the Sarawak state government.
As at March 31, 2020, UEM Edgenta’s balance sheet remained healthy with low gross gearing ratio at 0.3 times, strong net cash position and bank balances of RM513.8 million.
The company has paid out the final dividend of eight sen on May 14, 2020 in respect of the second half of financial year 2019 (FY19)
Together with the earlier declaration of interim dividend of six sen per share for the first six-month period of FY19, this represents a 5.4 per cent yield based on the closing share price of RM2.58 as at Feb 26, 2020. -Bernama
