NAIM Posts RM55 Million Profit in First Six Months

Sarawak-based public-listed company Naim Cendera Holdings Berhad has posted a pre-tax profit of RM 54.964 million for the first six months of this year.

According to the un-audited financial results for the half year ended June 30, 2004 released here after the company’s Board of Directors’ meeting yesterday, Naim recorded a financial performance which was 53.87 percent higher than the corresponding period last year when it posted a pre-tax profit of RM 35.720 million.

Chairman of Naim Cendera Datuk Abdul Hamed Sepawi told Tribune after the meeting that the profit was achieved on a turnover of RM 152.44 million, which was 31.09 percent higher than that recorded for the corresponding period last year.

The company’s turnover was largely attributed to the contribution from its core activities of property development (61.22 percent) and construction (33.15 percent).

The company chalked up an un-audited net profit after tax of RM 33.352 million for the first six months of the year, which is an improvement by almost 45 percent against the RM23.002 million derived during the same period last year.

Hamed, who was pleased with the overall performance of Naim, said the results were beyond his expectation, considering that two construction projects which the Group had anticipated to commence work in the second quarter of this year did not get off the ground until recently.

The ground-breaking ceremony for its latest project, Industrial Training Institute (Institut Latihan Perindustrian) at Bandar Baru Permyjaya, was officiated yesterday morning by Minister of Human Resource Development Datuk Wira Fong Chan Onn.

Meanwhile, Group Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Naim Datuk Hasmi Hasnan was optimistic that the results for the financial year 2004 would be good.

According to Hasmi, “based on the Group’s existing construction order book and robust property sale to date, the Group is confident of a good performance for the financial year 2004.”

He disclosed that Naim recorded property sales of RM 107.968 million for the first half of this year, comprising 811 development properties. The sales far exceeded the RM 63.091 million derived from 458 units sold during the corresponding period last year.

IN view of two commercial development projects and the existing construction work in progress, the Group is expecting better results in the second half of the year.

The Board, he said, had decided to defer its decision on the declaration of dividends for the year ending December 31, 2004 to its next meeting expected to be held in October.

However, Hasmi hinted that the dividends may be higher than the 9 sen per share paid out last year.