Oriental Interest's 3Q earnings down 42% on higher staff costs

• Earnings per share fell to 2.67 sen from 4.62 sen, the diversified group’s bourse filing showed.
• Quarterly revenue was 3.72% higher at RM122.67 million, from RM118.27 million in 3QFY2022.

KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): Oriental Interest Bhd (OIB) registered a net profit of RM12.4 million in the third quarter ended May 31, 2023 (3QFY2023), a 42.24% decline from RM21.46 million a year earlier, due to higher staff costs as the group sought further expansion.

Earnings per share fell to 2.67 sen from 4.62 sen, the diversified group’s bourse filing showed.

Quarterly revenue was 3.72% higher at RM122.67 million, from RM118.27 million in 3QFY2022.

For the cumulative nine-month period, OIB’s net profit dropped 32.61% to RM34.12 million from RM50.63 million previously, while revenue grew 3.86% to RM333.42 million from RM321.04 million.

Moving forward, OIB said it is positive on its prospects as the group currently has 2,847 acres of strategic development land, including land banks under landowners and developer agreements, that augur well for the future growth of its property development activities.

“The group continues to actively look for and acquire new land banks, given the positive outlook in the property development industry and the demand from first-time home buyers and own-stay market for residential properties remained sustainable," it said.

OIB's unbilled property sales stood RM498.57 million as of 3QFY2023, and given the on-hand bookings and sales, the group is optimistic in delivering another set of positive results for FY2023.

The group is principally involved in commercial and residential property development, general construction and oil palm cultivation.

OIB shares closed unchanged at RM1.16 on Thursday (July 27), giving the group a market capitalisation of RM538.91 million.