KUALA LUMPUR (Sep 21): Interconnect and cable solutions provider ConnectCounty Holdings Bhd announced today that its wholly-owned unit has inked a distribution agreement with Venus Group Inc for the distribution of charging station products in the US.

The announcement, made a week after the one-year agreement was signed between Rapid Conn Inc (RCI) and Venus, is for the distribution of the charging station products manufactured or distributed by RCI, including the US-patented UniCharge, from Oct 1.

ConnectCounty said the UniCharge is an in-house developed and patented service that will allow consumers to charge any brand-name smart device currently in the market now, whether it is running on the android, iOS or windows platform, without having to swap cables.

The announcement today came after a local publication reported on the deal, citing ConnectCounty's deputy executive chairman.

While the disclosure today did not exceed the 10-market-day grace period for corporate announcements, ConnectCounty did not explain why the information was shared with the selected media, instead of via Bursa Malaysia, for public disclosures.

Under the agreement, Venus would make minimum purchase orders, but no specific amount was stipulated. ConnectCounty merely said this would be "negotiated in due course".

ConnectCounty added the agreement was not expected to have financial impact to ConnectCounty for financial year ending Dec 31, 2016 (FY16). It noted, however, that the agreement would be beneficial to the entire group as it would enable it to expand its presence into the US market more effectively and efficiently.

"Venus is a well-established group that has an extensive distribution network across the US as well as in key economies globally," it said.

ConnectCounty reported a RM2.69 million net profit for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2015 (FY15) after four consecutive fiscal years of net losses. However, in the group's first half ended June 30, 2016 (1HFY16), it swung into the red again with a net loss of RM616,000, though revenue grew by 18.54% to RM35.92 million.

As at 1HFY16, ConnectCounty's accumulated losses had expanded by 14.16% to RM4.97 million, from RM4.35 million.

At 3.41pm today, the counter was up 0.5 sen or 4.17% at 12.5 sen, with 22.7 million shares traded, valuing the group at RM30.67 million.