Inari Amertron's 1Q earnings jump 34.8%, pays 2.8 sen dividend

by **Cals** Thu 12 Nov 2015, 23:33

Inari Amertron's 1Q earnings jump 34.8%, pays 2.8 sen dividend

By Sangeetha Amarthalingam / theedgemarkets.com | November 12, 2015 : 8:18 PM MYT

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 12): Favourable US dollar exchange movements pulled up [size=16]Inari Amertron Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.50, Fundamental: 3.00)'s net profit by 34.8% to RM45.5 million or 6.24 sen per share in its first quarter ended Sept 30, 2015 (1QFY16), compared with RM33.8 million or 6 sen per share last year.

For the same reason, its revenue for the latest quarter grew by 24% to RM274.9 million from RM221.9 million in 1QFY15, its filing to Bursa Malaysia today showed.

It also announced a dividend payout of 2.8 sen, comprising a first single-tier interim dividend of 2.3 sen, and a special single-tier dividend of 0.5 sen, which is payable on Dec 16.

Inari Amertron is involved in back-end semiconductor packaging, comprising back-end wafer processing, package assembly and radio frequency (RF) final testing for the semiconductor industry, with customers in the wireless communication segment.

Moving ahead, the group said it would continue to integrate and improve the operating margins of its optoelectronics business and ride the growth of the mobile smart device market.

The capacity expansion of its P13 facility in Penang is on track and is expected to continue providing growth impetus in FY16.

"The impact of the recent fall in exchange rate of the ringgit to US dollar to around 4.20 is generally a positive one for Inari Amertron.

"However, we believe that effects of the current value of the ringgit and lower thereof will be mixed due to the risks of customer price-down, inflation and wage inflation, loss of highly qualified staff and mobile technical staff seeking better opportunities elsewhere and difficulty of attracting good foreign workers to Malaysia.

"For FY16, the group is cautiously optimistic in maintaining our financial performance in line with industry growth numbers and poised to continue delivering positive performance in the new financial year," it said.

Inari Amertron shares closed one sen or 0.26% higher at RM3.82 today for a market capitalisation of RM2.8 billion. Year to date, the stock has risen 58.5%.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)
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