Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): Dagang NeXchange Bhd (DNeX) posted a net profit of RM51.6 million for the third financial quarter ended March 31, 2022 (3QFY22), up 18% from RM43.84 million for the preceding quarter.

Earnings per share were higher at 1.64 sen for 3QFY22, compared with 1.4 sen for 2QFY22.

Revenue for the quarter stood at RM382.64 million, an 8% increase from RM353.31 million for 2QFY22, on higher contributions from across its business segments.

In a bourse filing on Friday (May 27), DNeX said there is no comparative year-on-year comparison for 3QFY22 due to a change in its financial year end from Dec 31 to June 30.

The information technology segment saw a marginal RM380,000 increase in revenue for the quarter, which was partly due to lower trade facilitation and e-services revenue amid lower traffic volume.

The energy segment saw a RM19.59 million increase in revenue due to higher average selling prices in line with a rise in the Brent crude oil price.

Meanwhile, the technology segment posted RM9.36 million in revenue contributed by the sale of semiconductor wafers.

The group’s operating profit increased 45% to RM109.93 million quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q), mainly helped by the energy segment which directly benefited from the spike in crude oil prices.

For the cumulative nine-month period (9MFY22), net profit stood at RM389 million on the back of RM1.01 billion in revenue.

Looking ahead, the group expects financial contributions from SilTerra Malaysia Sdn Bhd — the semiconductor wafer foundry — to continually increase due to higher average selling prices as the group expands into new emerging technologies such as microelectromechanical systems and silicon photonics devices.

It added that the planned expansion to increase SilTerra’s annual production capacity by 10% by early 2023 will give better economies of scale and improve manufacturing costs.

“As part of the group’s long-term plans to enhance business sustainability, the group is exploring new opportunities to expand its semiconductor fabrication capabilities and address the strong global demand for semiconductors,” it said.

DNeX said this includes its memorandum of understanding with Big Innovation Holdings Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd (Foxconn), to build and operate a new 12-inch wafer fabrication plant.

The plant will produce 40,000 wafers per month, which will complement the group’s existing investment in SilTerra, it said.

Meanwhile, the US$100 (about RM437.85) per barrel crude oil price augurs well for its subsidiary Ping Petroleum Ltd, which has an average cost of production of below US$30 per barrel.

“To benefit from the current strong oil prices, capacity enhancement work programmes are under way to unlock remaining economic reserves at the Anasuria Cluster through improved operation and infill drilling.

“Production from Ping’s second oilfield asset, Avalon Oil Development, which has a total estimated recovery of 23 million barrels of oil, is scheduled to begin between mid-2024 and mid 2025,” said the group.

At the noon market break, DNeX shares were down two sen or 1.9% at RM1.02, giving it a market capitalisation of RM3.22 billion.

Edited ByKang Siew Li
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