by Sharmila Ganapathy
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KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corporation Bhd’s (IOI Corp) net profits for the third quarter ended March 31, 2008 (3QFY08) surged more than 53% to RM601.6 million, boosted by higher palm oil prices, better volumes from resource-based manufacturing and higher property sales.

Revenue rose 55.2% to RM3.53 billion from RM2.27 billion, while earnings per share (EPS) was 9.89 sen. No dividend was declared.

IOI Corp said yesterday its net profit rose 58% to RM1.63 billion in the nine months to March 31 from RM1.03 billion a year earlier, while revenue rose 57.6% to RM10.1 billion from RM6.41 billion. EPS amounted to 26.95 sen.

It said plantation earnings of RM1.3 billion for the nine-month period was double that of the corresponding period in 2007. Average crude palm oil prices rose to RM2,705 per tonne from RM1,649 per tonne.

IOI Corp said the resource-based manufacturing segment continued to perform well year to-date, posting a 47% increase in operating profit to RM457.4 million, inclusive of profits from Pan Century Group and volume and margin growth from all sub-segments.

It said the property segment’s operating profit was about the previous year’s level at RM310.6 million.

Meanwhile, IOI Properties Bhd’s net profit fell 19.5% to RM70.74 million in 3QFY08 from RM87.92 million a year earlier, while revenue rose to RM208.8 million from RM204.77 million. Earnings per share fell to 21.73 sen from 27.07 sen.

IOI Properties said the lower profit was due to the slightly lower operating margins as the product mix included fewer number of shop offices.

For the nine months to March 31, its net profit jumped 12.36% to RM241.76 million from RM215.23 million a year earlier while revenue rose 19.2% to RM605.61 million from RM507.87 million, due to the demand pick up for residential properties.

It also benefited from higher incidental palm oil revenue from its land bank and gains of RM16.7 million from disposal of non-current assets. IOI Corp’s share price closed one sen higher at RM7.45 yesterday, while IOI Properties rose three sen to close at RM11.

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