KUALA LUMPUR (May 18): Dialog Group Bhd posted a RM130.81 million net profit for the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 (3QFY2023), down 1.7% from RM133.07 million a year ago, due to higher project and operation costs.

As a result, earnings per share slipped to 2.32 sen from 2.36 sen in 3QFY2022.

Quarterly revenue, meanwhile, grew 35.28% to RM802.79 million from RM593.43 million, contributed by higher revenue from offshore project implementation activities at the Bayan field in Sarawak.

This was also driven by higher sales of specialist products and services in various countries, together with increased engineering, construction and maintenance activities in Singapore, and fabrication activities in New Zealand, according to Dialog’s filing on Thursday (May 18).

Further, Dialog said it has successfully completed the acquisition of a 50.01% stake in Pan Orient Energy (Siam) Ltd — a concessionaire and operator of Concession L53/48, onshore Thailand oilfield in August 2022 — which has contributed to a higher share of joint ventures to RM100.42 million from RM55.17 million in 3QFY2022.

The group declared a 1.3 sen interim dividend for the quarter, payable on June 27.

Its net profit for the cumulative nine-month ended March 31 (9MFY2023) decreased to RM383.74 million from RM389.76 million, despite revenue climbing 40.66% to RM2.31 billion from RM1.64 billion.

Looking ahead, Dialog said its focus will continue to be on the midstream business, the ongoing development of the Pengerang Deepwater Terminals (PDT) into the largest petroleum and petrochemical hub in the Asia Pacific region.

“As the economic environment is expected to remain extremely challenging in the short to medium-term, we will continue to build and strengthen our competencies by investing and multi-skilling our workforce to ensure we remain efficient and competitive,” said Dialog.

Dialog’s share price settled at RM2.20 on Thursday — up one sen or 0.46% — valuing the group at RM12.42 billion.