KUALA LUMPUR, Sept 8 (Bernama) -- Bursa Malaysia closed almost flat on Tuesday as buying interest rotated away from index heavyweights towards smaller-cap construction stocks, with sentiment affected by geopolitical uncertainty, said an analyst. At 5 pm, the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI (FBM KLCI) eased 0.39 of a point to 1,714.40 from Monday’s close of 1,714.79. The benchmark index opened 1.65 points lower at 1,713.14 and moved between 1,710.44 and 1,714.50 throughout the trading session. The broader market was almost evenly balanced, with decliners leading gainers 548 to 546, while 598 counters were unchanged, 1,107 were untraded and 25 were suspended. Turnover expanded to 4.13 billion units valued at RM3.14 billion from 3.60 billion units valued at RM2.45 billion on Monday.
Financial Performance & Growth Drivers Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Bhd (HSPLANT) posted a net profit of RM85.01 million in 4QFY2024 , a fourfold increase from RM20.69 million a year earlier . The sharp profit growth was driven by higher crude palm oil (CPO) and palm kernel (PK) selling prices, as well as increased CPO sales volume . Fair value adjustments of biological assets contributed RM24.4 million in gains , compared to a RM21.1 million loss in 4QFY2023 . Revenue & Dividend 4Q revenue surged 33.7% YoY to RM223.37 million from RM174.56 million . CPO prices rose 26.1%, while PK prices jumped 66.3% . CPO sales volume grew 4% , though PK sales declined 7% due to a lower kernel extraction rate . FY2024 net profit more than doubled to RM204.64 million , while revenue increased 12.7% to RM752.45 million . Declared a second interim dividend of 11 sen per share , bringing total FY2024 dividends to 12.5 sen , up from 6.8 sen in FY202...