KUALA LUMPUR: Bintulu Port Bhd posted lower net profit of RM142.04mil in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2018 compared with RM154.17mil a year ago due to lower revenue from its port services.

It said on Wednesday its pre-tax profit fell 4.4% to RM201.86mil from RM211.28mil. Operating revnue, however, was higher by nearly 1% to RM686.14mil from RM679.82mil.

“Revenue generated from port’s services at Bintulu Port is RM538.81mil as against RM582.07mil in FY17,” it said.

Samalaju Industrial Port generated RM101.61mil of revenue compared with RM58.16mil a year ago. The revenue from bulking facilities was higher at RM45.72mil versus RM39.60mil.

Bintulu Port said it recognised revenue from construction services for concession infrastructure of RM19.33mil versus RM137.38mil a year ago.

The expenditure in FY18 was slightly higher at RM482.32mil compared with RM436.07mil mainly due to the full Phase one operation at Samalaju. The operation started in June 2017.

As for the fourth quarter, its net profit rose 84% to RM82.86mil from RM45.03mil a year ago. Revenue increased by 6.3% to RM198.06mil from RM186.27mil. Earnings per share were 18.01 sen compared with 9.79 sen.

 It declared a fourth interim single tier dividend of six sen per share.