KUALA LUMPUR: JF Apex research is keeping its revenue and earnings per share forecast on Patech Holdings Bhd for FY20 and FY21 following the recent announcement of its 4QFY19 earnings.
The research house maintained a buy call on the counter with an unchanged target price of 63 sen.
"Prospects are brighter as the oil and gas companies are lifted by the recovery in oil prices.
"As a leading PVF company in the country, Pantech is in a strong position to benefit from increased activities in the upstream of the oil and gas industry," it said.
Meanwhile, JF Apex said Pantech's management is using legal means to contest the US Department of Commerce's decision to impose the anti-dumping tax on carbon steel butt welded fittings.
"Pantech could enjoy a favourable outcome if the decision is reversed," it said.
In a stock exchange filing yesterday, Pantech said 4QFY19 profit after tax rose 1% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM11.5mil despite quarterly revenue falling 5% y-o-y to RM142.6mil.
Its business segments experienced mixed performances with revenue from the trading division rising 10% y-o-y to RM93.9mil while sales from the manufacturing segment declined 25% y-o-y to RM47.7mil due to the suspension of export of carbon steel butt welded fittings to the US.
For the entire FY19, net profit rose 4% y-o-y to RM47.6mil on the back of a 1% revenue decline to RM609.2mil.
The group declared a final dividend of one sen per share, bringing total dividend for the year to two sen per share.
