Inari’s FY24 outlook likely to improve

RHB Research expects “a more hopeful FY24” for Inari Amertron on the back of new customers and the company’s expansion in China.

PETALING JAYA: Near-term challenges due to lacklustre smartphone shipment will continue to weigh on Inari Amertron Bhd, whose core earnings at RM255mil for the nine-month period of financial year 2023 missed analysts’ estimates.

However, RHB Research expects “a more hopeful FY24” on the back of new customers and the company’s expansion in China.

For the period under review, revenue came in lower by 12.9% year-on-year to RM1.06bil amid low demand for consumer devices, while 3Q23 revenue and core profit fell 23.5% and 41% from a year ago, with weaknesses seen in the radio frequency and optoelectronic businesses, said the research house.

Going forward, it expects new power modules on the system-on module platform, sensors, memory, and power LED to drive growth in FY24.

As for Inari Amertron Philippines’ performance, it said this would be led by new opto-related products in optical transceiver and silicon photonics.

The company’s 54.5%-owned Yiwu Semiconductor International Corp plant is on track for completion by 1H24.

According to RHB Research, Inari Amertron’s management expects quick production ramp up supported by Chinese companies in the smartphone and automotive sectors.