KUALA LUMPUR (May 26): Oil and gas (O&G) services provider Daya Materials Bhd continued to be loss making in the first quarter ended March 31, 2015 (1QFY15); it posted a net loss of RM260,000 against a net profit of RM949,000 in 1QFY14.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia this evening, Daya Materials blamed the losses on the lower vessel utilisation and declining spot rates of the offshore and upstream business and lower profit margin generated from sales of polymers.

However, quarterly revenue surged 56.8% to RM202.77 million from RM129.31 million, on improvements in its three business divisions: polymer, O&G, and technical services.

“The higher revenue in the current quarter was mainly due to the contributions from offshore subsea business (spot charter contracts in Africa and an installation project in Malaysia) and an increase in sales on downstream chemicals,” the group said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia this evening.

Geographically, its operation in the country generated 80.7% of the total revenue, while the remaining 19.3% came from overseas.

Daya Materials (fundamental: 0.55; valuation: 0.9) did not declare any dividend in the quarter.

The company had slipped into the red in financial year ended Dec 31, 2014 (FY14) after it posted a net loss of RM35.16 million from a net profit of RM3.6 million in FY13.

On outlook, Daya Materials said, “The board is of the view that the group's operational results for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2015 will be satisfactory, barring any unforeseen circumstances.”

Its share price has fallen 67% from 35 sen on Aug 13, 2014 to close at 11.5 sen today, with 2.83 million shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM190 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)