KUALA LUMPUR: Dialog Group Bhd’s first quarter (Q1) results has broadly met expectation at 22.9 per cent and 24.9 per cent of revenue and core earnings estimate respectively, said PublicInvest Research.
In a research report today, PublicInvest said besides that, the results are also in line with consensus at 22.1 per cent of revenue and 22.9 per cent of core earnings.
It said Dialog’s Malaysian operations grew 24.4 per cent mainly from its midstream and downstream activities, in particular engineering and construction (E&C) and plant maintenance from various projects.
The higher E&C revenue however was slightly offset by slower upstream activities and lower sales in specialist products and services, it said.
Revenue from international operations grew 7.9 per cent owing to higher sales of specialist products and technical services. The better performance however was curbed by lower E&C activities in Singapore.
PublicInvest said Dialog’s on-going Pengerang Deepwater Terminal (PDT) operations which have 1.3million m3 under Phase 1 are currently increasing capacities by an additional 430,000 m3.
“The construction of Phase 2 is on schedule. The Group is also in the midst of securing potential partners for Phase 3, which we understand will be undertaken on an 800-acre plot comprising of reclaimable land and a buffer zone allocated for future phases which include the development of industrial land and more petroleum and petrochemical storage terminals.
“The PDT development will provide more opportunities for services to be provided by the Group’s engineering, construction, fabrication and plant maintenance divisions,” it said.
PublicInvest has reaffirmed its “outperform” recommendation on Dialog with unchanged target price of RM2.89, based on its operational track record and steady growth strategies.