Choo Bee 3Q profit rises 1% yoy to RM2.9m

by **Cals** Fri 22 Nov 2013, 22:46

Business & Markets 2013

Written by Jeffrey Tan of theedgemalaysia.com

Friday, 22 November 2013 18:17

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 22): Choo Bee Metal Industries Bhd’s net profit rose 1% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM2.90 million in the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2013.

But revenue rose more, by 11% y-o-y to RM121 million.

In a filing to the stock exchange, the steel manufacturer said the slightly better profit was mainly attributed to unfavourable average selling prices and higher raw materials purchased, which negated the higher sales volume.

Choo Bee said the trading segment mainly supported its revenue growth, cushioning the lower contribution from the manufacturing segment.

For the nine-month period, profit stood at RM16 million versus RM9 million a year earlier, while revenue collected was RM352 million versus RM346 million in the previous corresponding period.

Choo Bee said the profit increase was largely attributed to lower raw materials cost from the manufacturing segment.

This resulted from incentives and rebates received on quantity purchases, which equalised the effects of lower average selling prices, it said.

The firm remarked the marginal improvement in revenue was contributed by the trading segment performance, which offset the weaker manufacturing segment performance.

Looking ahead, Choo Bee said the domestic steel market remains challenging.

“Any slowdown in the projects under the government’s Economic Transformation Programme (ETP) will adversely impact the local steel market’s performance in terms of steel prices and margins,” said Choo Bee.