KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 2): Dufu Technology Corp Bhd saw its net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2020 (3QFY20) rise by 29.9% quarter-on-quarter (q-o-q) to RM12.86 million from RM9.9 million.

In a bourse filing, the precision machining parts and components manufacturer attributed the increase in its latest quarterly net profit to higher revenue, noting that 2QFY20 had seen operational impacts from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Earnings per share stood at 2.5 sen, down from 3.9 sen earlier, following a bonus issue of 266.3 million shares and a further issuance of 2.27 million shares under an employee share option scheme in August, according to bourse filings.

Quarterly revenue increased by 3.46% q-o-q to RM75.95 million from RM73.41 million.

However, on a year-on-year (y-o-y) basis, Dufu saw its net profit contract by 13.01% from RM14.78 million.

Revenue increased by 12.3% y-o-y from RM67.63 million.

Dufu noted that revenue growth was driven by higher volume loading by its hard disk drive (HDD) component customers. The y-o-y decline seen in its net profit was due to a forex loss of RM1.94 million, versus a RM622,000 gain seen in 3QFY19.

For the nine months ended Sept 30, 2020 (9MFY20), Dufu saw its net profit increase by 25.44% y-o-y to RM36.9 million from RM29.41 million.

Revenue for 9MFY20 was up 24.67% y-o-y at RM212.32 million from RM170.3 million.

The group did not declare a dividend this quarter, resulting in a total dividend payout for 9MFY20 of 7.25 sen per share, which is still up from the 4.20 sen posted in 9MFY19.

On its prospects, the group noted that its operations have returned to normal since early May 2020.

That being said, the impact of the pandemic on its operations will be largely dependent on sales and length of the pandemic, which is impossible to predict at this point of time.

“Nevertheless, sales are expected to remain strong coming into final quarter of financial year ending Dec 31, 2020 (FY20). We expect the group to achieve a record revenue for FY20 which will likely enable the group to achieve satisfactory results despite the above obstacles and uncertainties,” it noted.

Shares in Dufu finished 1.59% or five sen higher at RM3.20, valuing it at some RM1.71 billion. It saw 2.4 million shares traded.