CYBERJAYA (Sept 13): Datasonic Group Bhd is aiming to achieve a record high bottomline for its financial year ending March 31, 2018 (FY18), on the back of its secured contracts from government. 

Speaking to reporters after its ninth annual general meeting (AGM) here today, its deputy managing director Chew Ben Ben explained that the secured contracts for passport and MyKad materials of about RM880 million will last the company for up to five years. 

For its first quarter ended June 30, 2017 (1QFY18), the secure identity and personalisation system solutions provider saw its net profit fall 27.24% to RM15.12 million, versus RM20.79 million last year, on the back of lower revenue.

Chew said lower net profit was partly due to the investment cost of research and development (R&D), as well as lower demand for passports during the Hari Raya festive season. 

It's quarterly revenue was down 21% to RM60.1 million, from RM76.08 million a year ago, on lower contribution derived from the supply of smart cards, consumables, passports and personalisation services. 

Moving forward, in line with the company's vision to be a leading security-related solutions provider in the global market by 2025, Chew emphasised Datasonic will be offering its expertise for border control in Tanzania. 

However, he said the company is still waiting for the due diligence and is hoping for it to be materialised by end of FY18. 

At noon break, Datasonic's shares were down one sen or 0.85% at RM1.17, for a market capitalisation of RM1.58 billion.