Quarter Earning Review
Oriental 4th Quarter EPS is 15.28 sen and the 2006 full year result was 60.28sen.
The Group’s PBT for the forth quarter of 2006 was RM113.2 million as compared to RM129.8 million in the preceding quarter. The Group’s revenue for the forth quarter of 2006 was RM965.5 million when compared to RM994.1 million in the preceding quarter.
The Group’s PBT for the forth quarter of 2006 decreased by RM16.6 million or 12.8% and the revenue decreased by RM28.6 million or 2.9% when compared to the preceding quarter. The continued increase in CPO prices, increase in FFB production and favourable foreign exchange effect have resulted in higher contribution from the overseas plantation for this quarter. Revenue and contribution from the automobile retailing in Singapore continued to improve during this quarter. The low sales volume on the back of weak demand coupled with lower prices for passenger cars resulted in drop in revenue and contribution of the automotive retailing in Malaysia. This was made worse by the intense competition and the already thin margin faced by the automobile industry. Performance of the hotel and resort sector improved during this current quarter.
Current year prospects
The performance of the plantation subsidiaries is expected to improve further with the increase in crop production and the anticipated increase in the CPO price.
The performances of the automotive related subsidiaries are expected to be in tandem with the industry trend. The fierce competitions from all the automobile distributors will inevitably erode the thin margin already faced by the industry. The uptrend in the interest rates and the oversupply in motor industry will affect the automobile retailing subsidiaries in Malaysia. However, it is hoped that these subsidiaries will perform better in line with the favourable market condition. However, automobile retailing in Singapore is expected to perform at current level.
The revenue and the contribution from the overseas subsidiaries in the tourism and hospitality industry is expected to improve.
Barring unforeseen circumstances, the Board of Directors expects the Group’s performance for Year 2007 to be satisfactory.
