KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 13): JCY International Bhd saw its net profit for the first quarter ended Dec 31, 2014 (1QFY15) risen 65.92% to RM50.19 million, from RM30.25 million a year ago, mainly due to favourable exchange rate and increased in sales volume.

Quarterly revenue climbed by 2.32% to RM487.9 million, versus RM476.81 million a year ago.

JCY (fundamental: 1.8; valuation: 1.8) has recommended a Single Tier Tax Exempt First Interim Dividend of 1.25 sen per ordinary share or 5% for the financial year ending Sept 30, 2015.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, the multi-mechanical components producer for hard disc drive (HDD) industry, said the strengthening of the USD against ringgit has been favourable to the firm.

“The start of the new financial year has been very encouraging. Our strategies are beginning to bear fruits, and we have been able to increase our production.

"We will continue to focus on our core strengths to deliver the best quality precision products to meet our customers’ needs," the group's non-executive chairman Rozali Mohamed Ali said in a statement.

"We remain committed to improving our operational efficiency through enhanced technological capabilities, cost control, and sound financial management," he added.

On prospect, the Total Addressable Market (TAM) for HDD has been steady, as the decline in PC shipments has moderated and the demand for cloud and enterprise storage remains healthy, according to JCY, which expects “the trend to be continued".

"We will continue to enhance our automation process, leveraging our multi components capabilities to improve our efficiency and cost competitiveness," it added.

JCY inched up 1 sen or 1.4% to close at 72.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.45 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)