Scientex Berhad saw its net profit rise to RM438.1 million for the financial year 2023 on the back of record-high revenue of RM4.08 billion, buoyed by improved performance of its property division.
Its bottomline rose 6.9% from RM409.9 million previously, as revenue increased 2.3% from RM3.99 billion a year ago it said in an earning statement. The Group’s property segment drove topline growth, increasing by a healthy 29.1% to RM1.45
billion in FY2023 from RM1.12 billion previously, on strong take-up rates for new launches as well as higher sales and steady construction progress in on-going projects.
The company said the robust property division mitigated the packaging segment’s performance which continued to witness softer global demand coupled with higher operating costs. Packaging revenue reduced 8.2% to RM2.63 billion in FY2023 versus RM2.86 billion a year ago.
For the fourth quarter ended 31 July 2023 (4Q23), Scientex posted RM114.9 million net profit on RM1.07 billion revenue, compared to RM125.0 million net profit on RM1.11 billion in the previous corresponding quarter. The decline in net profit during the quarter was largely due to rising operating costs, particularly higher energy costs, in addition to an impairment of goodwill of RM22.7 million in relation to its Myanmar operations.
Scientex has proposed a single tier final dividend of 5 sen per share in respect of FY2023 for shareholders’ approval at the forthcoming Annual General Meeting. If approved, and taking into account the earlier-paid interim dividend of 5 sen per share, Scientex would have declared total dividend of 10 sen per share in respect of FY2023. The dividend payout of RM155.1 million represents 35.4% of FY2023 net profit, thus exceeding the Group’s dividend policy of a minimum 30% of net profit.
