This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 21, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: GD Express Carrier Bhd’s (GDex) net profit slipped 2.6% in the first financial quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (1QFY18) due to higher operating expenses incurred for the expansion of network and infrastructure, to cater for higher demand of express delivery by its e-commerce business.

Net profit for 1QFY18 fell to RM7.89 million from RM8.11 million a year ago, while earnings per share dropped to 0.14 sen from 0.15 sen.

Quarterly revenue, however, rose 18.5% to RM68.77 million in 1QFY18 from RM58.02 million in 1QFY17.

For its courier services division, GDex said pre-tax profit dropped 9.1% to RM9.02 million from a year earlier, while revenue grew 17.3% to RM67.08 million.

As for its logistics services division, pre-tax profit surged 202.7% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM306,000 as revenue climbed 105.2% y-o-y to RM1.69 million. GDex attributed the segment’s improved performance to increased demand in warehousing services for the e-commerce business.