KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): LB Aluminium Bhd shares skid 9.16% in early trade this morning after its net proft for 2QFY18 fell 71% year-on-year to RM1.67 million, from RM5.78 million, on reduced margins because of higher raw material input costs.

At 9.05a, LB Aluminium fell 6 sen to 59.5 sen with 157,800 shares done.

The group’s earnings were further compounded by its lower other operating income, which declined to RM1.69 million, from RM2.54 million y-o-y, as a result of lower foreign exchange gain and lower amount of reversal of impairment loss on receivables during the quarter.

Quarterly revenue, however, grew 7% y-o-y to RM126.94 million, from RM118.28 million, because of higher average selling prices, due to a significant rise in raw material costs, particularly aluminium.

For 6MFY18, net profit fell 52% to RM5.27 million, from RM10.89 million a year ago — again mainly because of reduced margins due to higher raw material costs. Revenue rose 10% to RM251.36 million, from RM227.97 million, as it recorded higher average selling prices, while export business grew.

The group plans to strategise to mitigate the potential adversity by focusing on the export market, and possibly product diversification.