KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 26): GD Express Carrier Bhd (GDex) saw its net profit rise over 50% to RM9.89 million in the fourth financial quarter ended June 30, 2019 (4QFY19) from RM6.52 million a year ago, on reversal of tax penalty arising from underprovision of income tax expense in prior years.

This resulted in higher earnings per share of 0.18 sen for 4QFY19 compared with 0.12 sen for 4QFY18.

Quarterly revenue was also up 10.7% to RM82.29 million from RM74.36 million in 4QFY18, mainly due to contribution from the e-commerce business, which offset the slower pace of parcel volume growth.

The courier and logistics services provider also declared a final dividend of 0.25 sen per share for the financial year ended June 30, 2019 (FY19), which is subject to shareholders' approval at the forthcoming annual general meeting.

The improved quarterly performance helped lift the group's net profit for the full FY19 by 37.4% to RM32.47 million from RM23.63 million a year ago, while revenue rose 8.4% to RM317.56 million from RM292.99 million in FY18.

Despite the current challenging market environment, GDex said it will relentlessly review cost rationalisation and operational efficiency while at the same time look at innovative ways to overcome the competition.

"The group will cautiously invest in resources and infrastructure to expand its domestic and regional network, as well as pro-actively seek further strategic investment opportunities to enhance its business sustainability," it added.

Shares of GDex closed unchanged at 27.5 sen today, with 1.46 million shares traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.55 billion.