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- The share disposal comes as CMSB grapples with weaker financial performance.
KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (KL:CMSB) announced that the Sarawak Economic Development Corporation (SEDC) has ceased to be a substantial shareholder following its disposal of 1.624 million shares in the open market on Oct 9.
SEDC, which is the development and investment agency of the state of Sarawak, now only holds a 4.973% stake in CMSB, below the 5% threshold that defines substantial shareholding under regulatory guidelines.
SEDC has been gradually trimming its interest in CMSB since March this year, when its stake stood at 5.67%.
SEDC's interest in CMSB is not recent, but dates back to the very origin of the company. CMSB was founded in 1974 as Cement Manufacturers Sarawak Sdn Bhd—a joint venture between the state economic development corporations of both Sabah and Sarawak, with SEDC representing the Sarawak government's founding stake. The company was then listed on the stock exchange in 1989.
The share disposal comes as CMSB grapples with weaker financial performance. For the second quarter ended June 30, 2025 (2QFY2025), the group posted a net loss of RM11.32 million, reversing a net profit of RM33.37 million a year earlier. The decline was primarily due to an unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM30.67 million on financing activities.
Quarterly revenue fell 11.2% year-on-year to RM246.92 million, while operating profit fell 70% to RM12.77 million, weighed down by higher operating costs and softer contributions from associates.
For the first half of FY2025, net profit dropped 80.4% to RM14.01 million, with revenue declining to RM493.05 million from RM555.36 million a year earlier.
Segment-wise, the cement division recorded a marginal 3% dip in profit before tax (PBT) to RM68.72 million, while the phosphates segment saw losses widen to RM87.19 million, largely due to forex losses on US dollar-denominated shareholder loans. Its phosphates unit, Cahya Mata Phosphates Industries Sdn Bhd, booked an unrealised forex loss of RM34.17 million during the period.
Excluding the impact of forex losses, CMSB said its normalised PBT for the first half would have been RM55.18 million.
The group has said it expects earnings to benefit from the resumption of construction activities in the second half as weather conditions improve.
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