KUALA LUMPUR, June 30 — George Kent Malaysia Bhd’s pre-tax profit for the first quarter ended April 30, 2014 rose 9.8 per cent to RM8.705 million from RM7.928 million in the same period a year ago.

The performance was driven by higher profit margins from the group’s manufacturing and trading as well as its construction segment, George Kent said in a statement.

Revenue however slipped to RM64.863 million from RM84.688 million previously.

“The completion of the Panching Water Treatment Plant in Kuantan, Pahang and the recognition of the tail-end revenue of the Semantan Intake Pahang-Selangor raw water transfer project were the main reasons for the decline in the quarter-on-quarter revenue,” it said.

The company has also proposed a bonus issue of 75.102 million new shares on a one-for-three basis.

“Subject to shareholders’ approval, the proposed bonus issue will result in an increase in the group’s issued and paid-up capital number of shares to 300.410 million from the existing 225.307 million shares,” it said.  — Bernama