KUALA LUMPUR: IOI Corporation Bhd's earnings fell 15.9% to RM551.96mil in the third quarter ended March 31, 2012 (Q3, FY12) from RM656.71mil a year ago as most operating units reported a decline.

It said on Wednesday its pre-tax profit fell 16% to RM659.33mil from RM780.86mil mainly to a decline in the group's overall operating profit, except for property investment segment.

IOI's revenue fell 17.5% to RM3.579bil from RM4.340bil while earnings per share were lower at 8.59 sen compared with 10.25 sen.

It reported that its plantation segment profit decreased 11% to RM303.2mil from RM341.6mil a year ago due to lower fresh fruit bunches (FFB) production and higher production costs.

FFB production for Q3 FY12 fell 5% to 644,984 tonnes from 676,197 tonnes a year ago.

As for its resource-based manufacturing profit, it fell to RM89.1mil from RM191.7mil.

Its property development division reported a 25% decline in profit to RM110.1mil from RM145.9mil.

"The lower profit from the segment is due mainly to lower development revenue recognised as well as decrease in share of results from jointly controlled entities," it said.

For the nine-month period ended March 31, 2012, its earnings fell 17.1% to RM1.387bil from RM1.675bil. Pre-tax profit fell 13% to RM1.850bil from RM2.132bil.

"The decrease is due mainly to translation loss on foreign currency denominated borrowings of RM93.3 million (nine-months ended March 31, 2011 - gain of RM250.8mil).