Stay abreast with the latest happenings in Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad.

TPS 20th Anniversary

TPS Celebrates 20th Anniversary Milestone

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Kuching (Sarawak), Friday, 7 October 2016 – Tunku Putra School (TPS) today celebrated its 20th anniversary – a milestone that has witnessed the School’s growth from 90 students in 1996 to 632 students in 2016. Represented by 20 nationalities, and remaining true to its identity as a holistic and international education hub, TPS caters to students spanning Kindergarten, National Primary, International Primary, National Secondary and International Secondary offering IGCSE and SPM qualifications to meet the different needs of its diverse student portfolio.

The anniversary event, which was held on-site at TPS’ Kuching campus, was attended by His Excellency, Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, the Governor of Sarawak and Datuk Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree, Group Executive Director of Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB) and Susan Holmes, the Principal of TPS. Speaking at the event, each recognised and payed homage to the School for its mounting achievements, ability to meet the changing demands of a rapidly growing State and world and the School’s broad appeal to a diverse range of students from different cultures with different needs and expectations.  

Speaking at the 20-year milestone event, Susan Holmes, the Principal of TPS, said: “TPS’ track record of delivering academic excellence and regionally-recognised extracurricular activities, underpinned by a nurturing culture and a supportive educational environment, provides every child with the maximum opportunity to achieve their full potential and has been at the heart of our School’s growth and success story from the very beginning. Over recent years, we’ve built on that philosophy with a campus upgrade, infrastructural developments to offer students the best possible learning and growth environment and leading technological advancements to ensure our School is fully integrated, connected and stays ahead of the curve during what are exciting and rapidly changing times.”

During his address, and representing CMSB – the School’s owner and a leading Sarawak-based listed company – Datuk Syed Ahmad Alwee Alsree, added: “Since the School’s inauguration, we at CMSB have sought to play a role in providing top-quality international education locally, aspiring always toward academic excellence for the wider local community. Together, CMS and TPS have been part of Sarawak’s growth story – attracting talented overseas resources to the state, offering peace of mind that families’ education needs are attended to. Through expansion and investment in state-of-the-art facilities, we can now lay claim to a learning environment that is unrivalled, bespoke to the needs of the School’s students and teachers and with capacity to develop further, as the need arises.”

The 20th anniversary event showcased some of the results achieved by the School and its students – both academic and extracurricular success. In the Primary School Achievement Test, (USPR), the School achieved a 100% pass rate for the past five consecutive years, with last year seeing 20% of its pupils achieve straight A’s. For SPM students, in 2015, TPS achieved a School Average Grade (GPS) of 4.41, which is well above the National Average Grade of 5.15 and the State Average Grade of 5.47, achieving a 100% pass rate across almost all subjects, with 75% of SPM students achieving five or more Grades A+ to C. For IGCSE results, 2015 was jointly the School’s best-ever year with over 89% of results ranging from A* to C. Notably, 50% of the Mathematics grades were A* or A grades and 100% English First Language grades were A* to C grades.

TPS students – past and present – were also credited with recent achievements that included medal wins at the 2016 SUKMA Games, The Duke of Edinburgh Award Scheme, drama performances that included a joint collaboration with the State Symphony Orchestra, first-place in the Sime Darby Young Innovators Challenge (YIC) 2016 and continued success in their higher education studies.

TPS offers full-day educational programmes from kindergarten up to secondary levels in both the Malaysian national syllabus and Cambridge International syllabus.

Visit www.tps.edu.my for further information.

TPS Fun Run

TPS Fun Run and Open Day Begins 20th Anniversary Celebrations

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Kuching (Sarawak), Saturday, 24 September 2016 – Datuk Syed Ahmad Alsree, Group Executive Director of Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB), accompanied by Dato Hajjah Hanifah Hajar Taib-Alsree were joined by parents, teachers and members of the local community at the flag-off for the inaugural Tunku Putra School (TPS) Fun Run, which formally began the festivities that will culminate in the school’s 20th anniversary celebration on Friday, 7th October.

After warming up and receiving a safety briefing, friends and family of TPS students cycled, rollerbladed, ran or walked from the school campus to the Sarawak Stadium and back to support local causes and in celebration of the School’s achievements that have spanned 20 years.

The open day also included a world food fair, serving delights from around the globe, which stood on standby for the hungry Fun Run participants and visitors from throughout Kuching who joined the celebrations to experience the unique atmosphere amidst a cosmopolitan learning culture.

Also on offer were a host of sporting, cultural and other exciting activities, including some to highlight the importance of recent advancements in the classroom through assisted learning technology (using iPads) as well as impressive performing arts presentations, for which the School has become renowned. Recent TPS drama performances have included ‘Aladdin,’ ‘Alice in Wonderland’ and Sondheim’s classic musical, ‘Into the Woods,’ in which students partnered the Sarawak State Symphony Orchestra.

Playing host to the netball and volleyball finals was the impressive and recently-opened TPS Tun Taib Hall, which witnessed nail-biting basketball clashes with SMK Kuching High coming up against TPS’ A Team and Chung Hua Middle School take on SMK Lundu. In a separate friendly basketball match, TPS also came up against, and ultimately overcame, St Joseph’s Private School.

Proceeds from the sale of food and all gift donations, which totalled over RM6,000.00, are being given to the Kuching Autistic Association. Students also chose to run stalls to raise money for their own special charities, successfully raising RM1,337.00 for various good causes.

On Friday, 7th October 2016, His Excellency, Tuan Yang Terutama Tun Pehin Sri Haji Abdul Taib Mahmud, The Governor of Sarawak, will be guest of honour at a special ceremony to be held on-campus at TPS, where he and others will be entertained with a rich cultural presentation of dance and music as well as taking a trip down memory lane with a video presentation charting the development and growth of TPS – the growth His Excellency has closely followed since the School’s founding and naming by him in 1996.

Speaking at the School’s first Fun Run, Susan Holmes, the Principal of TPS, said: “Celebrating 20 Years of Learning is another landmark in the unique history of TPS. As a School we are continuously aspiring to improve on our previous best, to impact positively on students’ progress and raise standards of achievement as we seek to achieve our mission and vision. How we have achieved those, will of course, have been developed and refined over time as we prepare the students to take their place in the 21st century world, where excellent character and possessing a wide range of skills are as significant as wide knowledge base.”

TPS Fun Run

Come and Celebrate 20th Anniversary Of TPS at an Activity Packed Day of Sports and Culture

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TPS 20th Anniversary Logo

Kuching, Sarawak, 13 September 2016 – Tunku Putra School (TPS) is inviting you to join them to celebrate its 20th Anniversary on Saturday, 24 September 2016 and the day will begin at 7.30am with a Fun Run for TPS students, parents and families.

TPS will be opening their doors to visitors on Saturday, 24 September from 9am until 12 noon. Experience our unique atmosphere and learning environment. Visitors and current students alike will be invited to watch and join in on a host of sporting and cultural activities.

To further enrich your experience, the TPS has arranged for a World Food Fair. Come and try delights from around the globe. Proceeds from the sale of food will be donated to the Kuching Autistic Association.

TPS is offering a special reduction for new admissions for 2017 – collect your coupon for a free assessment from the Administration Office on Saturday, 24 September 2016.

The School offers the following on their purpose-built campus:

  • Kindergarten (3½-6 years);
  • National Primary and Secondary (National Curriculum);
  • International Primary and Secondary (International Curriculum).

Examination results (UPSR, PT3 and SPM, Cambridge Checkpoint and Cambridge IGCSE) are consistently high and are complemented by a comprehensive and challenging range of extra-curricular activities.

Share in Tunku Putra’s special day, enrol your children and allow this unique School to make a difference in their lives!

CMS Tribal Run 2.0

CMS Tribal Run 2.0 Raise RM120,000 for Charity

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Kuching (Sarawak), Sunday, 4 September 2016 – More than 2,600 runners, with some clad in fashionable tribal outfits, paced and dashed on the streets of Kuching for the CMS Tribal Run 2.0 on Sunday, 4 September 2016.

The Run with its theme “Run for a Good Cause”, was participated by members of the public and CMS employees in the 10km Competitive Race and 5km Fun Run categories. Participants also donned impressive ethnic wear to compete for the ‘Most Creatively-Dressed Male and Female’ awards. The lucky draw prizes included bicycles, hotel stay and numerous electrical items.

CMS donated all entry fees collected from participants, amounting to RM120,000.00 to 10 local charitable organisations with each receiving RM12,000.00 including, The Sarawak Cheshire Home, Sarawak Society for the Blind, Kuching Autistic Association, Hope Place, Sarawak Hospice Society, SOS Kids, Barefoot Mercy, The Green Ribbon Association, Breakthrough Network Centre and STEC Kidney Foundation.

CMS’ Group Managing Director, Dato’ Richard Curtis said: “The increase of participants from our first public run last year is very encouraging. Moreover to have witnessed a gathering of runners, who has dedicated their time for a good cause, weighs in on the importance of providing for the underprivileged in our community.”

He continued, “The CMS Tribal Run is part of our ‘CMS Doing Good’ initiative, which is essentially a culture within the company that inculcates a sense of concern and a caring attitude for the community, and is part of our company’s values. Our Doing Good projects, which commenced since the mid-1990s which have thus far included a combination of financial aid, contributions in-kind and in particular staff volunteerism.

Another defining feature of CMS as a responsible corporate citizen is that the Group runs its businesses not just to generate profit but to benefit our four key stakeholders, namely our shareholders, staff, customers/suppliers and the communities within which CMS operates. This is manifested internally within the Group and it encourages a strong sense of obligation to fulfil our corporate responsibilities.

We are pleased to organise the CMS Tribal Run for the second year running and we will continually seek to be involved with various community support initiatives to meet our obligations to the community, a key stakeholder.

We would also like to take this opportunity to thank our generous sponsors who contributed in one way or another in making our CMS Tribal Run 2.0 a huge success and hope for their continued support.”

CMS Tribal Run 2.0 was also held for CMS employees in Saratok, Sibu, Bintulu and Miri.

Financials_Cement

CMSB’s pre-tax profit reported at RM66 million for the first six months of 2016

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Kuching (Sarawak), Tuesday, 30 August 2016 – Cahya Mata Sarawak Berhad (CMSB – 2852), the State’s leading infrastructure facilitator, is pleased to announce its financial performance for the first six months of 2016 (1H16). The Group reported a total revenue of RM745.72 million and pre-tax profit (PBT) of RM65.67 million for 1H16. Revenue and PBT decreased by 14% and 59% in comparison to the preceding year’s corresponding period’s (1H15) result of RM867.84 million and RM161.72 million.

The Group’s Revenue and PBT for the second quarter ended 30 June 2016 (2Q16) of RM398.82 million and RM42.76 million, however, improved by 15% and 87% in comparison to first quarter ended 31 March 2016’s (1Q16) results.

The Group’s Cement Division recorded a PBT of RM41.69 million for its contribution towards the results for 1H16 which is 24% lower than 1H15’s record PBT of RM54.59 million. This is attributable to lower sales volumes, costs linked to the new cement mill’s commissioning, unscheduled shutdown of the clinker plant due to prolonged maintenance work and higher costs both in imported raw materials and cement due to the still weaker Ringgit. Despite lower revenues, the Construction Materials & Trading Division reported a PBT of RM48.22 million for 1H16, on par with 1H15’s PBT of RM48.34 million, due to improved margins from operational efficiencies. The Construction & Road Maintenance Division recorded a PBT of RM40.67 million (including the share of results of joint ventures), a decline in comparison to 1H15’s profit of RM46.89 million by 13%.

The Group also recorded losses of RM48.90 million in 1H16 from the share of results of its associates. This is largely due to the losses reported by the Group’s 25% associate, OM Materials (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd, which operates a ferrosilicon alloys smelter in Samalaju Industrial Park where commodity prices have been at record lows.

Commenting on the results, Dato’ Richard Curtis, Group Managing Director of CMSB said: “Our performance during the first half of this year has been affected by challenging market and operational conditions. These macro factors included low commodity selling prices, higher costs of raw materials and of imported cement (in 1Q16) resulting from the strong U.S. dollar in the Cement Division, and generally the sluggish private and public sector demand attributable to bank lending restraints and the lack of any new big projects.

Our Group’s core businesses, however, remain resilient even during this period, and have continued to report stable earnings. We also continue to remain confident that CMSB will achieve an acceptable performance for the full year of 2016 with performance levels rising again in 2017 when it is expected that the market sectors CMSB are involved in are likely to see some demand growth and price improvement. At a macro level we remain positive on a steady albeit modest recovery in oil and commodity prices to levels that enable CMSB’s businesses to grow positively. Within Sarawak, the continued focus towards a development oriented State budget bodes well for our core businesses.

Our confidence in our future prospects is supported by our healthy balance sheet, our experienced management team and our focused portfolio of core business Divisions which are well positioned to benefit from the State’s ever growing infrastructure needs including the RM16 billion Pan Borneo Highway project which is now kicking off. Looking further to the future, CMSB’s potential high growth investments in Sacofa Sdn Bhd, MPA (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd and OM (Sarawak) Sdn Bhd are confidently expected to materially transform our longer term profits growth.”

“We believe that CMSB continues to be one of the best proxy listed investments for Sarawak’s accelerating economic growth. This is consistent with the State’s promotion of energy intensive industries under the Sarawak Corridor for Renewable Energy (SCORE) initiative and the infrastructure and related services required across the State. These two drivers, which reflect CMSB’s two business focuses, are set to propel the State’s economy and CMSB to new heights in the medium and long term”, said Dato’ Curtis.

CMSB’s dividend policy is subject to the level of available cash and cash equivalents, return on equity and retained earnings, projected levels of capital expenditure and other investment plans. In light of these factors and of the modest financial performance for the first half of 2016, CMSB is not declaring an interim dividend to its shareholders in respect of the financial year ending 31 December 2016.