KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 29): Yee Lee Corp Bhd announced today its net profit was up 14.2% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM12.47 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2017 (3QFY17), from RM10.92 million in the corresponding quarter last year, lifted by its trading division and profit contribution from its associated company.

Quarterly revenue grew 16% to RM287.55 million, compared with RM247.91 million a year ago, thanks to higher revenue recorded across all its divisions.
Earnings per share improved y-o-y to 6.56 sen in the quarter, from 5.85 sen previously.

For the nine-month period (9MFY17), the fast moving consumer product manufacturer and distributor said it turned in a net profit of RM25.96 million, 20.3% lower than RM32.59 million posted in the same period last year.

Cumulative revenue however was higher at RM824.49 million, up 7.7% from RM765.34 million in 9MFY16.

In its filing with the stock exchange today, the group said profit contribution from its associated company, Spritzer Bhd, increased by 22.9%, mainly due to improvement in sales of bottled water.

Yee Lee said the manufacturing division saw higher sales of bulk oils and packaging products, especially aerosol cans, but was affected by its lower profit margin arising from a hike in the cost of tinplate.

Sales growth was also achieved at its trading division — driven by higher sales cooking oils, Campbell products and beverages products — which helped boost profit before tax for the division by 89.5%.

Over at its plantation division, a lower loss was incurred due to higher sales of tea. However, the oil palm plantation suffered losses, mainly due to expenses incurred for the new oil palm plantation in Sabah.

Going forward, Yee Lee expects domestic consumer confidence to improve, which will provide its trading division an opportunity to capture more market share, with its brand of products and strong distribution networks.

The group also expects its new Flat Bed Die Cut and advanced printing machines for its packaging division to enhance production efficiency and quality.

Performance of its palm oil mill is expected to improve with the fresh fruit bunches (FFB) price deduction scheme in place, the group said.

“Barring any unforeseen and adverse circumstances, the board believes the group will continue to remain profitable for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2017,” the filing read.

As at noon break, shares of Yee Lee were unchanged at RM2.10, giving it a market capitalisation of RM402.37 million. The counter reached its all-time peak of RM2.83 on May 11 this year, and has been trading between RM2.10 and RM2.88 for the past 52 weeks.