Scientex 3Q net profit rises 23% to RM36.34m, declares 8 sen interim dividend

by **Cals** Fri 20 Jun 2014, 01:49

Business & Markets 2014

Written by Surin Murugiah of theedgemalaysia.com

Thursday, 19 June 2014 14:45

KUALA LUMPUR (June 19): Scientex Bhd net profit for the third quarter ended April 30, 2014 rose 23% to RM36.34 million from RM29.53 million a year earlier, on the back of a 23.7% year-on-year increase in revenue.
In a filing to the stock exchange Thursday, the company said revenue for the quarter rose to RM426.77 million from RM345.1 million.
Scientex declared a single-tier interim dividend of 8 sen per share, which will be paid to shareholders on 8 August 2014.
For the nine months ended April 30, Scientex’s net profit rose 24.5% year-on-year to RM99.6 million on the back of a 37% increase in revenue to RM1.16 billion.
In a statement today, Scientex managing director Lim Peng Jin said that within the stretch film segment, the completed expansion in annual production capacity to 194,000 metric tonnes (MT) since December 2013 has enabled the company to make increasing headway into export markets in the Asia Pacific region.
“The higher revenue in 3Q14 indicates that our efforts have borne fruit.
“We intend to replicate this success in our consumer film segment, where the ongoing expansion in blown film lines remains on schedule and is targeted to be fully operational in 2014.
“This will boost our annual production capacity by 50% to 51,000 MT, and allow us to tap on the resilient growth of emerging markets in Asia Pacific and selected European markets,” he said.
Lim said the company had also seen sturdy sales in the property division despite the cautious sentiment in the overall market, reflecting buyers’ sustained demand for quality products at the right price point.
He said Scientex received overwhelming response from the public for the launches of new projects in Taman Scientex Senai, Johor, which contributed to the better performance in this segment.
“At the same time, demand for Taman Scientex Pasir Gudang, Kulai and Taman Mutiara Mas and Melaka remained encouraging.
“Since November 2013, Scientex had launched three phases of its Taman Scientex Senai development, comprising 539 units of double-storey houses with total GDV of RM131.8 million,” he said.
On its prospects, Lim that together with its market penetration and capacity expansion efforts in the manufacturing segment, we will continue to focus on the affordable housing segment given its steady demand in any season.
“Barring any unforeseeable circumstances, we remain cautiously optimistic of our prospects for the current financial year,” he said.