KUALA LUMPUR (March 24): Astino Bhd reported a big rise in profit for its second financial quarter ended Jan 31, 2017 (2QFY17) on better overseas sales and profit margin.

The group said net profit rose 74.74% to RM12.09 million from RM6.92 million in 2QFY16. Revenue grew 12.28% to RM133.91 million from RM119.26 million.

"The increase in group turnover for the current quarter was mainly due to the increase in overseas market demand," the company said in a Bursa Malaysia filing today.

For the cumulative six-month period (1HFY17), net profit jumped 47.26% year-on-year to RM17.67 million from RM11.998 million, while revenue climbed 5.4% to RM247.34 million from RM234.67 million.

Moving forward, Astino expects the local steel industry to experience a squeeze in profit margin "due to the weak domestic demand, high production costs and volatility of foreign currency".

"The group will continue to focus its efforts on improving its operational efficiencies and explore the possibility of producing new metal building material products to penetrate into new market segments locally and overseas," it added.

Astino's share price closed unchanged at 75 sen, with 229,700 shares changing hands. The building-related metal product manufacturer is currently valued at nearly RM205 million.