In KUALA LUMPUR story headlined "UPDATE 1-Malaysia's Sime full-yr profit rise beats forecasts" please read in paragraph one....results showing a 25 percent rise in net profit....instead of....results showing a 24 percent rise in net profit....(correcting the percentage rise).
A corrected repetition follows. (Adds details on breakdown throughout)
By Patrick Chalmers
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Diversified Malaysian conglomerate Sime Darby beat market forecasts on Tuesday with full-year results showing a 25 percent rise in net profit of 771 million ringgit ($203 million).
One of Asia's oldest conglomerates, Sime said it benefited from its diversity of interests spanning plantations, property, tyre manufacturing, car distribution and power generation.
"Overall the performance of the group's core businesses has been satisfactory despite the weaker conditions in certain of the territories and industry sectors that the group operates," Sime said in a statement accompanying its results.
Net profit for the year to June 30 trumped the 728 million ringgit predicted by Multex Global Estimate, helped by better-than-expected results from property and car distribution units as well as continued buoyancy in crude palm oil prices.
The group reported earnings per share of 33.2 Malaysian cents versus the forecast 31.3, helped in part by increased full-year turnover of more than 12 billion ringgit versus the previous financial year's 11.8 billion.
Motor vehicle distribution, which accounted for a third of the group's annual turnover, saw profits fall due to lower vehicle demand in Malaysia and Singapore, Sime said.
But higher sales of BMW vehicles by Sime's Tractors Malaysia unit and contributions from Tractors' new Peugeot distributorship in Australia helped a satisfactory performance by the sector, it added.
Singapore's marine and shipbuilding industry boosted the group's heavy equipment sales in the fourth quarter, offsetting weak demand for logging equipment in Malaysia, where demand in the marine and cogeneration sectors also helped it out.
Sime's plantations division, accounting for only eight percent of annual revenue, profited from higher palm oil product prices in the fourth quarter, averaging 1,211 ringgit per tonne of palm oil versus 1,113 in the quarter before.
Shares in Sime, the country's sixth largest company by market value, were suspended at 5.25 ringgit ahead of the results, stuck in their range for the year of between 4.72 and 5.60.
($1 = 3.8 ringgit)
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