KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 27): Kronologi Asia Bhd shares rose 1.24% in active trade after the company said it expects to see double-digit revenue growth in the financial year ending Dec 31, 2018 (FY18) as its Hong Kong-based subsidiary will start making a full-year contribution following the completion of its acquisition at the end of last year.

At 9.40am, Kronologi rose 1 sen to 81.5 sen with 2.13 million shares one.

"All things remaining status quo, with Quantum Storage (Hong Kong) Ltd (QHK) we (should see) a double-digit revenue growth for FY18," its executive director Tan Jeck Min told a media briefing to announce the group's fourth-quarter and FY17 results yesterday.

Kronologi, which provides on-site and off-site enterprise data management (EDM) and data storage solutions to Asian businesses, completed its RM45 million acquisition of QHK on Dec 4, 2017, which saw it contributing to one month of its FY17 financial performance.

Its acting chief executive officer, Philip Teo, said the integration of QHK will gather momentum in FY18, with both its India-based subsidiary Quantum Storage (India) Pte Ltd (QSI) and QHK to reap the benefits of economies of scale with the group's presence in 10 locations across eight countries in South Asia.

Kronologi’s 4QFY17 results saw its net profit rise by a third to RM3.44 million from RM2.59 million a year ago, attributable to better results in Southeast Asia and the completion of the acquisition of QHK.

According to Teo, QHK has fulfilled its profit guarantee for FY17 in the one-month contribution to the group.

The better profit results were in line with the growth of 56.7% in its quarterly revenue to RM42.7 million in 4QFY17 from RM27.3 million recorded in 4QFY16.

For the full FY17, Kronologi saw its net profit rise 68.5% to RM12.1 million from RM7.16 million in FY16, propelled by full-year contribution from QSI. Revenue for FY17 also surged 77.6% to RM144.4 million from RM81.3 in FY16.

As of Dec 31, 2017, Kronologi's cash and bank balances increased to RM35.1 million from RM8.3 million a year ago. On the back of a stronger financial result and stronger cash pile, the group said it remains focused on driving growth, highlighting a potential investment of about RM3 to RM5 million for infrastructure investment in the region, including in Malaysia.