KUALA LUMPUR, June 26 — IJM Corp Bhd’s net profit declined significantly to RM250.59 million in the financial year ended March 31, 2020 (FY20) from RM418.91 million in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue, however, rose to RM6.6 billion from RM5.65 billion previously due to higher contribution from the construction, property development, plantation and infrastructure divisions, it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today.

It said the lower profit was mainly due to lower earnings achieved by its construction, manufacturing and quarrying, plantation and infrastructure divisions.

Moving forward, IJM Corp said it expected the financial year ending March 31, 2021 (FY21) to be challenging given the constantly changing business environment.

“The group anticipates disruptive implications of the Covid-19 pandemic on the overall market environment, together with the uncertainty of commodity prices and volatility of foreign exchange rates,” it said.

It said the construction division is expected to be impacted by the subdued property market and reduction in government infrastructure spending as well as the availability of new construction jobs in the local market.

“The reduction in the availability of new construction jobs in the local market is also expected to impact the company’s industry division,” it said.

It said the property division is expected to record lower sales and performance in FY21 in line with the weak property industry sentiment forecast in the near to medium term as purchasers adopt a wait-and-see attitude due to the poor economic outlook and uncertainties over employment.

“The plantation division will continue to face cost pressures arising mainly from wage increases, the cost impact of the Covid-19 pandemic in terms of health and safety, as well as the uncertainty of commodity prices and volatility of the foreign exchange rates, mainly the Indonesian rupiah against the US dollar and the Japanese yen,” it said.

IJM Corp said its tolling operations are expected to be impacted by the pandemic lock-downs imposed in Malaysia and India in mid-March 2020 with the expected gradual recovery of traffic flows back to the pre-Covid-19 levels anticipated to be only after the first quarter of the financial year ending March 31, 2021.

“However, the company’s port operations are expected to provide recurrent revenue streams and earnings as the existing port concession matures,” it added. — Bernama