KUALA LUMPUR (May 21): Inari Amertron Bhd booked a net profit of RM35.06 million in the third quarter ended March 31, 2020 (3QFY20), down 8.19% from RM38.19 million a year ago, on lower revenue, higher depreciation and higher tax incurred.

The latest quarterly results are the weakest by the group, which is involved in electronics manufacturing services, since 3QFY16 — when it booked a profit of RM21.4 million, again amid lower revenue.

Quarterly earnings per share slipped to 1.08 sen from 1.2 sen in 3QFY19, its filing showed. The group has proposed a dividend of one sen per share for the quarter to be paid on July 10, bringing its cumulative dividend in the nine-month period (9MFY20) to 3.3 sen per share, down from 4.1 sen per share for 9MFY19.

The group said its quarterly revenue contracted 5.36% to RM242.57 million from RM256.32 million in the previous corresponding quarter, as weaker revenue in Malaysia offset growth in Singapore.

“The decrease in revenue was primarily due to lower sales volume in optoelectronic products in January and February, and lower production volume at our Malaysia, China and Philippine plants in the current quarter [as a result of] the enforcement of lockdowns to contain Covid-19 by the respective governments,” it said.

For 9MFY20, Inari Amertron's net profit sank 21.61% to RM120.28 million from RM153.43 million a year ago. Cumulative revenue fell 6.52% to RM824.61 million from RM882.19 million.

The earnings decline was attributed to lower demand for optoelectronic products, lower production volume, changes in product mix, higher depreciation cost and higher tax provision.

Going into 4QFY20, Inari Amertron expects a challenging quarter, “even though the group expects the bottom-line results to remain positive”.

The group intends to stay in its core manufacturing activities, and to control costs and capital expenditure as well as to streamline its operations to mitigate any impact from regulatory controls resulting from the pandemic.

Inari Amertron shares closed two sen or 1.41% higher at RM1.44, valuing the electronic products manufacturer at RM4.67 billion.