Scientex’s net profit jumps 61% to RM133.4M in fourth quarter

PETALING JAYA: Scientex Bhd’s net profit jumped 60.9% to Rm133.4mil in the fourth quarter ended July 31 from Rm82.98mil, marking the first time the group’s quarterly net profit has exceeded the Rm100mil mark.

The packaging manufacturer and property developer said its revenue rose 30.2% to Rm938.76mil against Rm720.7mil a year ago.

This was achieved on the back of double-digit growth in both the manufacturing and property development segments.

Scientex has proposed a final dividend of 10 sen per share in respect of the financial year ended July 31, 2019 (FY19), which will be tabled for shareholders’ approval at the upcoming AGM.

For FY19, Scientex scaled a new billion-ringgit mark as revenue jumped 24.8% to Rm3.2bil from Rm2.6bil a year ago.

This led to the group ending the financial year with new milestones in profitability, as the FY19 pre-tax profit rose 27% to Rm450.6mil from Rm354.7mil, and net profit expanded 17.3% to a record performance of Rm333.7mil compared to Rm284.5mil previously.

The group’s manufacturing segment posted a 23.8% jump in revenue to Rm2.4bil in FY19 from Rm1.9bil a year ago.

This was achieved on organic sales growth in its existing operations, contributions from newly-acquired businesses of Klang Hock Plastic Industries and Daibochi Bhd, and higher utilisation rates across all businesses.

At the same time, the property development segment reported a 27.4% growth in revenue to Rm889.6mil in FY19 from Rm698.2mil a year ago, underscoring unabated demand and stable progress billings for its affordable property offerings in Johor, Melaka, Rawang and Ipoh.

Commenting on prospects for FY20, Scientex managing director Lim Peng Jin said in a statement that both the manufacturing and property development segments are expected to perform resiliently.

“In our manufacturing segment, we are targeting higher sales to both the domestic and export markets for flexible plastic packaging, as well as expecting enhanced efficiency at our subsidiary, Daibochi, in the upcoming quarters.

“Additionally, in line with the rising demand for affordable homes in Peninsular Malaysia and the strong take-up rates of our launches, we are targeting a larger scale of launch worth Rm1.3bil in gross development value in FY20, from Rm1.1bil in the previous year,” added Lim.