Kian Ann Engineering, the distributor of heavy machinery parts in Asia, says net profit attributable to shareholders declined 3.3% y-o-y to $9.8 million for the nine months ended 31 March 2010 (9MFY2010) from $10.2 million in 9MFY2009.

For the period under review, Kian Ann’s sales increased 5.6% to $107.7 million from $102 million. This was due to higher recorded sales of $30.9 million from Malaysia, compared with $24.8 million in the corresponding period last year, as demand from timber, palm oil and agriculture industries picked up.

The group’s net profit after tax decreased marginally from $10.3 million to $10.2 million for the period under review despite higher profit before tax reported in 9MFY2010. This was because the group’s profit after tax in the corresponding period last year took into account of a tax refund of $2 million from IRAS in respect of a claim for Industrial Building Allowance.

Without taking into consideration this tax refund, the group’s net profit after tax would have increased by 22.9%.