KUALA LUMPUR (May 31): PPB Group Bhd's net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2023 (1QFY2023) jumped 24.53% year-on-year to RM377.54 million from RM303.16 million, as its grains and agribusiness unit returned to the black while its film segment neared breakeven.

Earnings per share for the quarter rose to 26.54 sen from 21.31 sen a year ago, PPB said.

Revenue grew 12.59% to RM1.52 billion from RM1.35 billion, also led by higher contributions from the two segments, its filing showed. No dividend was declared.

At the profit-before-tax level, the group recorded RM415.01 million, up 73.58% from 1QFY2022's RM239.09 million, with the grains and agribusiness contributing RM58.46 million versus a loss of RM138.3 million a year ago, while its film segment remained in the red with a loss before tax of RM25,000 — down from RM29.91 million previously.

Meanwhile, contribution from its 18.5%-owned associate Wilmar International Ltd fell 19% to RM321 million from RM394 million, PPB said.

The group also operates in the property and consumer products segments. Its property business recorded a lower net profit of RM23 million versus RM35 million previously, while consumer products' earnings rose 5% to RM7.3 million from RM7 million.

The weaker performance by Wilmar led to a 9.14% quarter-on-quarter decline in the group's net profit from RM415.5 million in 4QFY2022. Group revenue slipped 5.59% q-o-q to RM1.52 billion from RM1.61 billion.

On prospects, PPB pointed to stable grains commodity markets to support its performance, while the film segment is expecting a strong lineup of movie titles from the second quarter of this year.

“We expect the property segment to perform satisfactorily as the new development projects in Kedah and Penang are in its planning stage,” it added.

“Improved mall occupancy and footfall are expected to contribute positively to the top line of this segment in 2023,” it said.

Shares of PPB jumped in the final 15 minutes of trading on Wednesday, erasing earlier session losses to close 36 sen or 2.26% higher at RM16.26, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM23.13 billion. The counter is down 6.77% this year.