KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): Batu Kawan Bhd and 47.74%-held Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) were top gainers in morning trade on Monday (Dec 12) after the plantation groups announced final dividends for the financial year ended Sept 30, 2022 (FY2022).

Top gainer Batu Kawan rose 28 sen or 1.34% to RM21.10 at the time of writing, bringing its market capitalisation to RM8.43 billion. Meanwhile, KLK increased 18 sen or 0.87% to RM20.98, valuing it at RM22.66 billion.

Last Friday (Dec 9), Batu Kawan announced a final dividend of 90 sen per share to be paid on March 2, 2023. The final dividend goes ex on Feb 17, 2023 and its entitlement date is Feb 20, 2023.

KLK announced a final dividend of 80 sen per share, with the payment date on Feb 28, 2023. The final dividend goes ex on Feb 17, 2023 while its entitlement date is Feb 20, 2023.

The dividends were announced despite both groups reporting lower earnings in the fourth quarter (4QFY2022), mainly due to significantly lower investment holding and manufacturing profits.

Batu Kawan's net profit dropped 28% to RM222.79 million in 4QFY2022 from RM308.04 million a year earlier, although revenue rose 17% to RM7.22 billion from RM6.16 billion. For the full FY2022, net profit rose 2.4% to RM1.17 billion from RM1.15 billion, as revenue increased 36% to RM28.22 billion from RM20.72 billion.

KLK's 4QFY2022 net profit fell 26% to RM462.13 million from RM625.8 million a year earlier, despite revenue rising 18% to RM6.98 billion from RM5.93 billion. For the full FY2022, KLK reported a 4% drop in net profit to RM2.17 billion from RM2.26 billion in FY2021, although revenue rose 36% to RM27.15 billion from RM19.92 billion.