KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 9): Tasco Bhd's net profit fell 9.3% to RM8.17 million in the third financial quarter ended Dec 31, 2017 (3QFY18) from RM9.01 million a year ago, on lower contribution from its international business solutions (IBS) segment.

Earnings per share also fell to 4.09 sen in 3QFY18, from 4.51 sen in 3QFY17. Quarterly revenue, however, was up 20.4% to RM191.66 million, from RM159.19 million a year ago.

Nevertheless, the group declared a dividend of 2 sen for the financial year ending March 31, 2018 (FY18), whereby the entitlement date and payment date will be announced at a later date.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Tasco said within the IBS segment, the competitive freight rates and surcharges impacted lower pre-tax profit for air freight forwarding and ocean freight forwarding business by RM800,000 and RM1.8 million, respectively.

For the cumulative nine months (9MFY18), net profit rose 5.2% to RM24.36 million from RM23.15 million, while revenue grew 23.7% to RM540.71 million from RM437.01 million in 9MFY17, on higher contribution from its international business solutions segment.

On prospects for the remaining period of FY18, Tasco said it is cautiously optimistic that the group would continue its credible performance.

It noted however that its recent acquisition of Gold Cold Transport was fully financed via bank borrowings and as such, its bottom line was significantly impacted by higher finance costs.

In that respect, Tasco noted the group would be evaluating various ways and available options in order to mitigate this situation in the medium term.

“We will continue to maintain our strategy to focus on servicing our customers with innovative logistics solutions and expand our logistics capacity, when it is beneficial to our shareholders' value,” Tasco added.

Tasco shares closed down one sen or 0.5% at RM1.99 today, for a market capitalisation of RM400 million. The stock has risen 26.9% over the past year.