KUCHING: Shipbuilder TAS Offshore Bhd group net profit has surged to about RM6.1 million in third quarter to Feb 29, 2024 (3Q2024) from RM654,000 a year ago as more new-built vessels were delivered to clients.
The higher earnings were achieved in line with expanded group revenue which climbed to RM34.55 million from RM5.55 million during the same period of comparison.
This helped to raise company’s earnings per share to 3.39sen from 0.37sen.
In the current quarter under review, the group derived the bulk or RM27.65 million of its revenue from Indonesian clients, RM6.64 million from Singapore clients and RM257,000 from Malaysian clients.
TAS attributed the 523 per cent jump in group revenue in 3Q2023 to the delivery of more vessels.
“The higher profit before tax of RM7.68 million for the current quarter as compared with the preceding year corresponding quarter (RM701,000) was mainly due to more vessels were delivered and higher gain on fair value changes of investments measured at fair value through profit of loss,” the company said in explanatory notes to its financial results.
The 3Q2023 financial results bettered that of the immediate preceding quarter (2Q2024) when the group recorded group pretax profit of RM6.13 million on turnover of RM28.4 million.
In the nine-month period to Feb 29, 2024, TAS has returned to the black with group net profit of RM10.5 million from loss of RM437,000 in the corresponding period in the preceding year as group revenue leapt to RM67.8 million from RM17.84 million.
On prospects going forward, TAS said the strong momentum of the Indonesian mining industry augurs well for the group as the demand of tugboats is expected to remain steady to support the transportation of bulk materials across the archipelago.
“According to the Indonesian Mining and Energy Forum (IMEF), China and India will boost Indonesia’s coal production in 2024.
This is due to the on-going construction plans for largecapacity coal-fired power plants in China and India, the two largest coal-importing countries.
“Indonesia government officials said the nickel production is projected to increase in 2024, with several new smelters starting operations after the country contributed to nearly half of global output in 2023.
The demand for coal by nickel smelters are on a continuous rise.
“Moreover, according to Indonesia Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, the country’s electricity demand is expected to grow with the start up of 35,000 megawatt (MW) of new stream power plants projects.
The International Energy Agency’s (IEA) electricity analysis and forecast for 2024-2026 expected Indonesia’s coal-fired generation to increase by around 5 per cent during the period and the domestic coal demand to reach 284 million tonnes by 2026,up from less than 200 million tonnes in 2024,” said TAS.
With these developments, TAS said its board of directors remain optimistic about the group’s prospects as it is well positioned to benefit from the rising demand for tugboats and strong client base in Indonesia.
In 2024, the group has so far secured contracts for the construction of five tugboats valued at a total of RM37.9 million.
