KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 19 — Boustead Heavy Industries Corporation Bhd (BHIC) suffered a net loss of RM567,000 in the second quarter ended June 30, 2020 (Q2 2020) compared with a net profit of RM2.94 million in the same quarter last year.
Revenue dropped to RM35.90 million from RM53.93 million previously.
In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, it said the weaker performance was attributed to higher expenses mainly due to additional staff costs of RM5.7 million incurred under retrenchment arising from the closure of non-profitable business operations.
BHIC said the company remained cautious on prospects in the current financial year amid the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the global and the country’s economy.
“It is expected that the impending economic slowdown will affect the defence budget,” the company said, adding that it is confident the government would not waver from its commitment to protect the defence sector.
BHIC said the movement restrictions imposed in China and Malaysia to curb the deadly pandemic had caused some delay in the Littoral Mission Ship (LMS) programme.
It said although work has partially resumed, the milestones of the project would have to be reviewed given the delay caused by the lockdown.
“Our associate, Boustead Naval Shipyard Sdn Bhd, continues engaging with the relevant stakeholders to finalise the current issues on the Littoral Combat Ship programme,” BHIC said. — Bernama
