File pic of Scientex managing director Lim Peng Jin
KUALA LUMPUR:Global packaging manufacturer and property developer Scientex Bhd
posted a net profit of RM61.3mil in the third quarter ended April 30, 2016 (Q3), a jump of 42.6%, compared with RM43mil a year ago.
Group revenue for the quarter rose 19.5% to RM543.9mil from RM455.3mil previously.
It announced on Wednesday that Q3 manufacturing sales increased 20.1% to RM382.8 mil from RM318.8mil previously, as it expanded its customer coverage in the Asia Pacific region.
The property segment meanwhile noted 18.0% higher revenue of RM161.1mil versus RM136.5mil a year ago, on the back of progress billings and steady take-up rates for properties in Melaka as well as Pasir Gudang, Skudai, Kulai and Senai in Johor.
Of total manufacturing revenue for the said quarter, consumer packaging sales contributed RM183.9mil, growing 44.6% year-on-year from RM127.1mil. Industrial packaging revenue amounted to RM198.9mil, 3.8% higher than RM191.6mil a year ago.
Managing director Lim Peng Jin said: “Scientex is clearly benefitting from the expansion of our consumer packaging operations, which allows us to become a larger-scale and operationally-efficient producer. Serving the recession-proof food and beverage and fast moving consumer goods sectors also work to our advantage in terms of sales stability and growth.
Furthermore, our technical development team is spearheading new product development in line with the changing form factor of packaging.
“For instance, the prevalence of e-commerce has resulted in higher demand for protective packaging, while packaging for the healthcare sector has to adhere to higher standards of hygiene. In this respect, we are actively engaging with customers to introduce new innovations to hone our competitive edge.
“Similarly, our property division has fared well with steady take up rates, and has total unbilled sales of RM652.7mil to be recognised until 2018. We intend to maintain the strategy of offering affordable homes below the RM500,000 mark to fulfil market demand for affordable properties.”
For the nine months, group revenue rose 21.5% to RM1.6bil from RM1.3bil previously, driven largely by increased contribution from consumer packaging.
Net profit grew at a faster pace of 70.9% to RM186.7mil from RM109.3mil a year ago, enhanced by favourable sales mix within and across segments, and reduced effective tax rate due to Reinvestment Allowances.
The company has proposed an interim single tier dividend of 12 sen per share, with ex-dividend and payment dates of July 14 and Aug 5 respectively.
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