MPI earnings up nearly 30% to RM38m, declares 15 sen dividend

KUALA LUMPUR: Chip maker Malaysian Pacific Industries Bhd (MPI) reported a strong set of financial results for the third quarter ended March 31, 2016, with its earnings up 29.2% to RM38.99mil but the board expects the operating environment to remain challenging.

It said on Wednesday the earnings increased from RM30.17mil a year ago. Its revenue was slightly higher at RM352.12mil from RM351.27mil. Earnings per share were 20.53 sen compared with 15.89 sen. The company declared a 15 sen per share dividend.

Revenue from the Europe segment was up 17% while those for Asia and the US fell 6% and 3% from a year ago.

MPI said the semiconductor was experiencing slower growth with uncertainty in the macro economy, hence this was reflected in the lower revenue when compared with the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2015 (Q2) where turnover was RM379.7mil.

Revenue for the Europe segment was up 9% while the Asia and US segments fell 8% and 20% respectively from Q2.

It said while the pre-tax profit for the third quarter was higher at RM47.5mil compared with the preceding quarter's RM37.1mil, the increase was mainly due to a tax insurance claim of RM16.7mil.

For the nine months ended March 31, 2016, MPI's earnings rose 60.3% to RM118.87mil from RM74.15mil in the previous corresponding period. 

Profit before tax rose to RM147.9mil from RM105.87mil mainly due to higher margin products and positive effect from the stronger US dollar. Revenue increased by 9.9% to RM1.118bil from RM1.017bil.