The Star, 27-June-2008
KUALA LUMPUR: Jaya Tiasa Bhd's net profit for the fourth quarter ended April 30 fell 83.3% to RM5.15mil against RM30.9mil a year earlier, mainly due to lower average selling prices of timber. Jaya Tiasa told Bursa Malaysia yesterday that pre-tax profit was also sharply lower at RM8.4mil versus RM41.7mil before, while revenue declined to RM227mil from RM234mil.
Its earnings per share fell to 1.93 sen from 11.60 sen a year earlier. For the full year, Jaya Tiasa posted a net profit of RM51.8mil, or 19.39 sen a share. Revenue was down at RM797.7mil against RM855mil before. Jaya Tiasa said a sharp rise in operating costs owing to the unprecedented surge in global oil prices was another negative factor that contributed to the fall in revenue and pre-tax profit. “Additionally, with the weakening of the US dollar, the margin from export sales denominated in US dollars was further squeezed,” the company said.
However, Jaya Tiasa said the prospect for timber prices was expected to remain positive owing to the continuing tight supply of logs, coupled with strong demand from China, India and the Middle East. “Supply-side shortfalls are expected to continue as a consequence of the imposition of Russia’s export tax on logs that increased 25% in April and plans to further increase it to 80% in January 2009. This will impact log supplies from the country significantly,” it added.
