Datasonic posts higher net profit for Q4 and FY20

PETALING JAYA: Datasonic Group Bhd has posted a net profit of Rm12.27mil for its fourth quarter ended March 31, 2020, a 5.56% jump year-on-year (y-o-y) from Rm11.63mil.

While revenue came in 10.58% lower y-o-y at Rm50.72mil, the rise in net profit was mainly due to a significantly reduced income tax expense, which actually came in as a revenue of RM280,000 for the quarter as compared to an expense of Rm1.19mil in the same period last year.

On a year-to-date basis, Datasonic recorded a 65.12% jump y-o-y in its net profit from Rm36.53mil to Rm60.32mil, attributed mainly to higher revenue, lower financing cost and a reduced income tax rate.

The group’s revenue for the financial year, which was 12.74% higher y-o-y, primarily stemmed from improved supply of smart cards and consumables, passports and personalisation and maintenance services.

Datasonic has declared a fourth interim dividend of 0.5 sen per share for the quarter under review.

The total dividend per share for the current financial year amounted to three sen as compared to 2.5 sen in financial year 2019 (FY19).

Group non-executive chairman Tan Sri Mohamed Hashim Mohd Ali said the group was pleased to deliver a solid set of results for FY20 amid the challenging business environment.

“We halted our operations in compliance with the movement control order (MCO) implemented by the government. Subsequently, we resumed our operations in early May and have been fully abiding by the standard operating procedures imposed.

“Our production has since been picking up gradually and we are receiving new orders from our customers,” he said in a statement.

Mohamed Hashim added that the pandemic and its resulting MCO was a small hiccup, and given that the nature of Datasonic’s business is mainly on a contract basis, orders from customers would continue to flow in.

Datasonic also recently secured an additional spare parts scope for the maintenance services of card personalisation centres at the National Registration Department (NRD) with a value of Rm7.3mil, in addition to the current contract for maintenance services of card personalisation centres at NRD that was awarded to Datasonic on June 3, 2019.

The group’s order book stood at about Rm575mil as at March 31, 2020. Its net gearing stood at 0.2 times.

Group managing director Datuk Razali Mohd Yusof said the outlook for Datasonic remained bright, moving forward, as the group is still in the running for several largescale national projects.

“We are optimistic on our prospects as Datasonic will continue to leverage on its strong technical expertise, vast experience and proven track record,” he said.