YTL Corp Q1 profit rises on higher cement income

Group revenue rose about 10 per cent to RM1.74 billion for the first quarter ended September 20 2008, from a year ago. Net profit for the quarter was RM252.37 million.

"The group achieved a strong start to the year, with our cement division posting an excellent set of results," YTL group managing director Tan Sri Francis Yeoh Sock Ping said in a statement yesterday.

He said the group's power division registered a decrease in earnings due principally to a one-off windfall tax payment to the government and foreign currency translation differences.

"The group's foreign operations continue to take the lead in growing our revenues and profits. These proposed purchases complement our existing utilities in the UK, Australia and Indonesia, cement operations in Singapore and China and high-end real estate in Singapore," said Yeoh.
Last month, YTL proposed buying 26 per cent of Macquarie Prime real Estate Investment Trust (MP REIT) and half of the holding company of the manager of MP REIT.

YTL Cement Bhd's first quarter net profit rose 35 per cent to RM69.20 million, due mainly to higher demand for cement from the construction industry, improved operational efficiencies and better prices.

YTL Power International's net profit, however, fell 23 per cent to RM180.38 million in the first quarter compared with the previous same quarter. The group's subsidiary YTL Power Generation Sdn Bhd and an independent power producer, which operates power stations in Paka and Pasir Gudang, had to make a one-off windfall tax payment to the government.

The division's foreign operations Wessex Water Ltd and PT Jawa Power - its 35 per cent-owned associate in Indonesia, which owns a 1,220-megawatt power station in East Java - continued to perform well.

YTL Land & Development Bhd's net profit in the first quarter, meanwhile, dropped 42 per cent to RM1.21 million from a year ago.

Starhill Real Estate Investment Trust, the group's listed REIT, gained from RM254.36 million in revaluation surplus from Lot 10, Starhill Gallery and the JW Marriott Hotel Kuala Lumpur.

In view of the slowdown in economy, the group expects Malaysia's property market to soften.

YTL E-Solutions Bhd's three-month net profit rose 73 per cent to RM2.19 million, thanks to more income contribution from subsidiary Airzed Broadband Sdn Bhd.

YTL Power declared an interim tax-exempt dividend of 6 per cent less tax and a 3 per cent single-tier dividend, while YTL Cement is giving an interim gross dividend of 3 per cent less tax and a 7 per cent single-tier dividend for the period.