Malaysia Market : YTL Q1 net dips on broadband losses

YTL Corp Bhd saw its first quarter net profit decline by 9.7 per cent to RM251.8 million, mainly due to losses incurred in its mobile broadband business.

The company - which has investments in the power, cement, property development and others - registered a 3.1 per cent increase in revenue at RM4.54 billion for the first quarter ended September 30.

"The 2012 financial year has shown a promising start, with revenue increasing marginally over the same period last year, owing predominantly to the group's multi-utility businesses," Yeoh said in a statement yesterday.

Group net profit for the first quarter was slightly down on the back of a loss incurred in the "Yes" mobile broadband division operated by a subsidiary of YTL Power, which started commercial operations about a year ago.

This was not unexpected given the nature of the business and the front-end loaded ca-pital outlay required to build their nationwide network, he added.

YTL Corp expects its 4G operations to continue to pick up steam and begin recording a profit once the necessary scale has been reached.

Its unit YTL Power Bhd, which is also where its mobile broadband business is parked in, registered a 4.4 per cent increase in revenue to RM3.63 billion.

Net profit, however, was 9.8 per cent compared to the first quarter of last year.

YTL Cement Bhd saw revenue improve 17.6 per cent to RM544.7 million during the quarter. Net profit increased 4.4 per cent to RM75.8 million, despite higher production costs and increase in electricity tariffs that impacted the division's profit.

Its property development arm YTL Land & Development Bhd saw a slight decline in its net profit at RM2.9 million, versus RM3.2 million a year ago.

The decline was due to timing differences of project launches by its units and increase in operating expenses.

YTL Corp said it had early this week completed part of the final stage of the ongoing rationalisation of its retail and hospitality REITs with the acquisition of eight hotels by Starhill REIT. They included The Ritz-Carlton KL, the Vistana chain of hotels, and the Pangkor Laut, Tanjong Jara and Cameron Highlands luxury resorts.

This will enable Starhill REIT to focus fully on a single class of hotel and hospitality-related assets.

"Internationally, the trust is in the process of completing its acquisition of the Hilton Niseko in Japan. In addition, the group completed the restructuring of its property development business on November 4," he said. YTL Corp shares declined 1 sen to RM1.43 yesterday. (Business Times)