KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): Subur Tiasa Holdings Bhd rose by as much as 29.29% this morning after returning to profitability in the latest quarter.

At 9.37am this morning, it was the sixth top gainer on Bursa Malaysia, rising by 20.5 sen to 90.5 sen, with 1.65 million shares traded.

At 10.01am, the counter had pared some gains at 86 sen, still up 16 sen or 22.86%, with 2.21 million shares traded. 

Subur Tiasa — a manufacturer of plywood, particle boards and sawn timber and an oil palm plantation owner — posted a net profit of RM19.37 million for the period of May 1 to July 31, 2021 against a net loss of RM26.75 million a year ago.

Revenue for the quarter rose 47.35% to RM106.46 million from RM72.25 million for the same period a year earlier.

Subur Tiasa said its oil palm segment’s revenue and pre-tax profit increased by RM32.9 million and RM24.1 million respectively quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), mainly contributed by a 79% increase in crude palm oil (CPO) prices from RM2,335 per tonne to RM4,183 per tonne. 

Its timber segment’s revenue, on the other hand, increased by 4.35% q-o-q to RM42.71 million from RM40.93 million, while pre-tax loss decreased by 59.35% to RM5.34 million from RM13.14 million the year before.

The group did not declare any dividend for the latest quarter.

Prospect-wise, the group said it expects its oil palm segment to generate higher earnings, underpinned by higher fresh fruit bunch (FFB) production during the peak crop season, while CPO prices are expected to remain firm.

Meanwhile, it added that its timber segment’s selling prices are expected to improve further on the back of rising demand as more economic activities are expected to resume progressively given that Covid-19 vaccination progress had accelerated across the world.

For the cumulative nine-month period, the group posted a net profit of RM29.7 million versus a net loss of RM25.07 million previously, while revenue was up 14.03% at RM376.25 million from RM329.95 million.