Nestlé (Malaysia) Bhd. said its normalized net income for the third quarter was 49 Malaysian sen per share, a decrease of 9.7% from 55 sen per share in the year-earlier period.

Normalized net income, which excludes unusual gains or losses on a pre- and after-tax basis, was 115.8 million ringgits, a decrease of 9.7% from 128.3 million ringgits in the prior-year period.

The normalized profit margin dropped to 9.2% from 10.5% in the year-earlier period.

Total revenue grew on an annual basis to 1.26 billion ringgits from 1.22 billion ringgits, and total operating expenses rose 6.6% from the prior-year period to 1.07 billion ringgits from 1.00 billion ringgits.

Reported net income declined 10.3% on an annual basis to 160.7 million ringgits, or 69 sen per share, from 179.2 million ringgits, or 76 sen per share.

As of Oct. 25, US$1 was equivalent to 4.16 ringgits.