Tenaga Q4 profit falls 39% on forex loss

[ KUALA LUMPUR] Tenaga Nasional Bhd , Malaysia's biggest power group, said on Thursday its fourth-quarter net profit dropped 39.5 per cent as the utility booked translation loss from the strengthening of the dollar and Japanese yen against the ringgit.

Net profit for the quarter ended Aug 31 fell to 820.9 million ringgit (US$191.2 million) from 1.36 billion ringgit a year earlier, Tenaga said in a stock exchange filing. Revenue was flat at 11.74 billion ringgit, it said.

One analyst had forecast a net profit of 1.69 billion ringgit for the quarter, according to Thomson Reuters data. "Given the impact of the slowdown in the global economy, including declining commodity prices, depreciation of the ringgit and expected slower growth in major advanced economies, the board continues to remain cautious on the group's prospect for financial year 2016," Tenaga said.

Tenaga, which counts Malaysia's state investor Khazanah Nasional Bhd as its biggest shareholder, said on Oct 19 it had submitted a conditional offer to buy troubled state fund 1MDB's power assets, without disclosing the sum offered.

Tenaga did not comment on the 1MDB asset deal.

Tenaga shares ended 0.63 per cent lower at 12.66 ringgit on Thursday, ahead of the results.

REUTERS