Archive for category: Featured News

Kuching (Sarawak), Friday, 24 August 2018 – Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB – 2852) is pleased to announce its financial performance for the first six months of 2018 (1H 2018). The Group reported a total revenue of RM750.27 million and a pre-tax profit (PBT) of RM175.94 million for 1H 2018, an increase by 15% and 32%, in comparison to the preceding year’s corresponding period’s (1H 2017) result of RM650.23 million and RM132.91 million respectively.

The Group’s profit after tax and non-controlling interests (PATNCI) of RM130.60 million for 1H 2018 was 57% higher than 1H 2017’s PATNCI of RM83.30 million. Earnings per share (EPS) also stood notably at 12.16 sen versus 7.75 sen reported for the corresponding six-month period of last year.

The significant improvement in the Group’s financial performance was mainly due to increase in the share of results of associates namely: OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, SACOFA Sdn Bhd, KKB Engineering Berhad and Kenanga Investment Bank Berhad. Collectively, their PBT catapulted by 1101% to RM74.88 million during 1H 2018 from a loss of RM7.48 million in 1H 2017. The main contributor to this astounding performance is the strong turnaround at OM Materials (Sarawak) where a PATNCI of RM48.48 million was registered (for CMSB’s 25% share) compared to a loss of RM26.21 million for the corresponding period in 2017. This strong performance by OM Materials (Sarawak) is expected to be sustained if ferrosilicon and manganese alloy prices and production outputs are maintained at their current levels. The Group also recorded a robust profit contribution from SACOFA where a PBT of RM21.11 million was recorded compared to RM18.88 million for the corresponding period in 2017.

The Group’s Cement Division, however, reported a lower PBT of RM39.19 million in 1H 2018 compared to 1H 2017’s PBT of RM47.04 million despite an 8% increase in its revenue. The lower PBT was mainly due to repair costs from the planned plant maintenance shutdown carried at its clinker plant during the months of January and February this year. This was the first extensive maintenance shutdown exercise carried out by the Group since it took over the plant in 2007.  The Division’s performance was further impacted by an increase in the price of imported clinker due to tight supply in the international market which management seeks to mitigate through alternative supply sources.

The Construction Materials & Trading Division reported a PBT of RM23.41 million for 1H 2018 which is 21% lower than 1H 2017’s PBT of RM29.50 million despite a 10% increase in revenue. The lower PBT was mainly attributable to a sudden and acute shortage of raw materials supply: quarry aggregates and quarry sand, resulting from a steep spike in the demand for the materials from the Pan Borneo Highway project. Margin was also compressed by the recent increase in prices of bitumen and diesel. The Division is actively exploring for alternative supply sources to ensure its continuous production of premix.

The Construction & Road Maintenance Division registered a strong PBT of RM44.76 million, an increase by 24% in comparison to 1H 2017’s profit of RM36.11 million. This was on the back of higher revenue from the construction of Pan Borneo Highway project, the Miri-Marudi road rehabilitation project and the Sarawak Museum project.

The Group reported a lower PBT of RM11.30 million from the Property Development Division compared to RM23.57 million for the corresponding period in 2017. This was mainly attributable to lower sales in an increasingly challenging property market.

Commenting on the results, CMSB’s Group Chief Executive Officer – Corporate, Dato Isaac Lugun, said: “The improvement in our financial performance for first six months of this year has mainly been due to the strong turnaround of our associate, OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and improved contributions from our other associate companies including SACOFA Sdn Bhd. We believe that our growth strategy for our strategic investments to drive the next wave of growth for CMS Group is beginning to come to fruition. The aim of this growth strategy is for our traditional core businesses and our strategic investments to equally contribute to double the Group’s earnings in the next three to five years.”

“Meanwhile, we also expect improved performance from our traditional core businesses of Cement and Construction Materials despite the operational challenges being faced by the two Divisions including the recent overall downgrade of the construction sector by various research houses in Malaysia. This growth is expected to come from the Pan Borneo Highway, which is gradually gathering momentum, and is expected to drive the construction sector in the State for the next 2-3 years.”

“We are confident that CMSB will continue to maintain its strong growth potential and will remain resilient in spite of expected continuing headwinds. With its healthy balance sheet, the Group is well positioned to benefit in all key growth areas in Sarawak: through OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd in the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy (SCORE) initiative, through SACOFA Sdn Bhd in the State’s push to fully embrace the digital economy and through PPES Works (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and our construction materials supply companies in the roll-out of the Pan Borneo Highway project and the State’s rural transformation plan.” added Dato Isaac Lugun.

Kuching (Sarawak), Monday, 6 August 2018 – The popular annual CMS Tribal Run which took place on Sunday, 5 August 2018 saw a record number of 3,288 employees and members of the public who participated in 3 categories: 3km Family Run, 5km Fun Run and 10km Competitive race to be flagged off for the first time at Wisma Mahmud. Runners from all over Sarawak, including Kuching, Betong, Mukah, Bintulu and Miri, gathered for this event with many participants beautifully adorned in tribal wear, as they ran the streets of Kuching, making for a fun and healthy weekend activity for both the serious runner and for the families who participated. This is the first time the event was held at Wisma Mahmud in Kuching with 2,821 participants. Similar runs were simultaneously held in Mukah and Bintulu with 216 participants combined. Miri and Betong will have their run on the 18 August with 251 participants.

For the 4^th consecutive year, CMS has organised this event for the benefit of local charities who received 100% of the entry fee proceeds. This year, the entry fees of RM136,000 collected plus a personal donation of RM10,000 from CMS Interim Group Chairman, Y Bhg Dato Sri Mahmud Abu Bekir, were donated to 11 charitable organisations in Sarawak. This brings the total entry fees collected from participants for donation in the four years (2015-2018) to RM492,104. This resonates well with the tag line of the run which is ‘Running for a Good Cause’. The 11 Sarawak-based NGO who received the cheques were Barefoot Mercy Berhad, Befrienders Kuching, Home of Peace, Kuching Autistic Association, Persatuan Sukan Orang Pekak Sarawak, Sarawak Cheshire Home, Sarawak Children’s Cancer Society, STEC Kidney Foundation, The Green Ribbon Association Kuching, The Society for Critically Sick Children and Mental Health Association of Sarawak. This is a continuation of CMS’ ‘Doing Good’ initiative, which started in the mid 1990’s.

Like last year, there was the 5km Fun Run and the 10km Competitive Race, which offered cash prizes for the Top-10 Men Open finishers and Top-10 Women Open finishers. Winner of Men Open was Chong Yen Boon, while 2^nd and 3^rd placings went to Sunny and Tan Jit Ping respectively. The winner of the Women Open was Christable Lim, while 2^nd and 3^rd placings went to Lee Leh Ha and Hee Yieng Nyuk respectively. The top 3 winners of both the Men and Women Open received RM500 cash, while the 2^nd and 3^rd placings each received RM300 and RM200, respectively.

For the Best Tribal Wear, RM50 shopping vouchers were awarded to the Top-10 participants. This year, was the introduction of the 3km Family Run saw families running or walking alongside each other. 28 Lucky draw prizes were also given out to the lucky participants with the Grand Prize being a Fitbit Charge 2; a Fitbit Alta HR was the second prize and a pair of Brooks Sports Shoes (Ricochet) as the third prize.

Present for the flag-off and presenting the prizes and cheques were Datuk Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree, CMS Group Executive Director; Dato Isaac Lugun, CMS Group CEO – Corporate; and Mr Goh Chii Bing, CMS Group CEO – Operations.

CMS Group Executive Director, Datuk Syed Alwee Alsree, said: “This year, we see a bigger participation from all over Sarawak. Overwhelming support came from all walks of life; this included CMS employees and people from all walks of life including the business community whom we see as an extension of our own family. CMS Tribal Run aptly demonstrates that Sarawakians will always come together for a good cause. We share what we have by giving back to the community and in return the community gives us their support for us to better our services to the public”.

CMS Tribal Run continued to receive support from the corporate sector which included group participation from Titanium Project Management, Harwood Timber, K&N Kenanga, RHB Bank, Borneo Convention Centre Kuching, Ernst & Young, Kuching Toastmasters Club, Naim Holdings, SEDC, The Spring Management, KKB Engineering and Nova Fusion.

Organised by Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad, the CMS Tribal Run 4.0 was jointly supported by RevRun Co., City Jogger’s Club and sponsors included Satria Realty and Revive, Indocafe and Pure Juices.

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