KUALA LUMPUR: KUB Malaysia Bhd's business realignment strategy to further enhance its operations has already yielded positive results over its past full financial year, said group managing director Datuk Abdul Rahim Mohd Zin.

In a statement following the group's annual general meeting (AGM) in Kuala Lumpur today, Abdul Rahim said that the group will continue to evaluate business acquisition opportunities to enhance its earnings.

“Based on our detailed internal review carried out last year, we had identified out core competencies, namely in the agrobusiness, information and communications technology (ICT), and energy sectors. We will direct out focus on nurturing and building out capabilities to enhance our competitive edge,” he said.

In line with its strategy, KUB has disposed its non-performing businesses, namely A&W Restaurant (Thailand) Co Ltd and KUB Builders Sdn Bhd. The disposals resulted in one-off gains totalling to RM19.5 million.

KUB's agrobusiness segment concluded the construction of its oil palm mill in Mukah, Sarawak in March with a production capacity of 45 metric tonnes per hour. According to Abdul Rahim, the group will continue to explore potential opportunities to expand their landbank and production capacity.

The group's ICT business received a RM43mil project from the Ministry of Transport to complete the automatic fare collection system for 53 Keretapi Tanah Melayu Commuter stations. It had also successfully secured its first telecommunication asset contract worth RM16mil from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).

As for its food business segment, A&W (M) Sdn Bhd has opened seven new outlets in Peninsula Malaysia.

For its financial year ended Dec 31, 2015 (FY15), KUB reported revenue of RM447.25mil a net profit of RM9.08mil, which is a 102% increase from its net profit of RM4.48mil a year ago.

“Despite the challenging environment, we are optimistic in achieving better financial performance moving forward in view of our new business strategies that we have put in place. I believe that we will be able to cobble a sturdy path of long-term growth and value for our shareholders.” Abdul Rahim noted.

During its AGM today, shareholders had approved a first and final single tier dividend of 0.5 sen per ordinary share in respect of the financial year ended 31 December 2015, which translates to a 35.5% dividend payout ratio.