Swift Haulage posts 29% decline in 1Q profit on higher finance costs, overhead expenses

KUALA LUMPUR (May 10): Swift Haulage Bhd’s net profit declined 29.22% for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) to RM10.13 million compared with RM14.31 million in the same period last year, dragged by higher finance costs and overhead expenses.

Earnings per share decreased to 1.15 sen from 1.61 sen in 1QFY2022.

This was despite its quarterly revenue increasing 5.66% to RM169.4 million from RM160.3 million, mainly driven by additional revenue contributed by an increase in fleet capacity for land transportation and higher revenue from its warehousing business segment as three new warehouses were completed in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2022 (FY2022).

In a bourse filing on Wednesday (May 10), Swift Haulage said revenue for the quarter under review is primarily contributed by container haulage of RM69.7 million and land transportation of RM62.9 million, which represents 78.3% of the logistic service provider’s total revenue for 1QFY2023.

“Other business segments, namely warehousing and container depot and freight forwarding business contributed RM22.3 million and RM14.4 million respectively for 1QFY2023,” said the group.

As the growth of the logistics sector in the country correlates with the growth of Malaysia's economic activities as well as international trade, Swift Haulage expects its business environment to remain challenging.

“In ensuring the group is well positioned to navigate through this challenging period, we will continue to strategise, adapt, and will take timely appropriate measures in order to minimise operating risks and optimize our resources for the core business to remain resilient and stable,” it said.

Swift Haulage elaborated that it plans to expand its warehouse capacity further by constructing two more warehouses in Northern and Westport Land which are expected to be operational in the first half of 2024, ultimately improving financial performance.

“We will continue to maintain our strategy to focus on servicing our customers with innovative logistics solutions and expand our logistics capacity through mergers and acquisitions to enhance shareholders' value.

“As we move forward, we are dedicated to accelerating our environmental, social and governance (ESG) objectives, with clear plans in place. This includes reducing our carbon emissions directly by investing in green technology assets, amongst others, by installing solar panels and LED lights in some of our warehouses and purchase of electric prime movers which is part of our journey in our sustainability road map towards 2030,” Swift Haulage added.

Swift Haulage closed unchanged at 47 sen on Wednesday, with a market capitalisation of RM413.85 million.