KUALA LUMPUR (May 27): GD Express Carrier Bhd (GDex) reported a 96% year-on-year fall in its net profit for its third quarter ended March 31, 2020, as its business was affected by supply chain disruptions that started since January due to the coronavirus outbreak, which has also impacted its customers' operations.

The weaker quarterly earnings, which fell to RM210,000 from RM5.43 million a year ago, were also due to the effects of assessments and adjustments it had to make under the MFRS 16 accounting standard.

The profit decline came despite a higher revenue of RM88.24 million recorded, up 13% y-o-y from RM77.97 million previously, its group filing today showed. The higher topline was partly contributed by its newly-acquired Vietnamese subsidiary.

"Decline in performance for the current quarter under review (was) mainly due to most of the B2B (business-to-business) non-essential customers’ business operation being affected by the MCO and the disruption of the supply chain at the ports and the airports, as well as the impact of MFRS 16 Leases assessment and adjustments," it said.

Segmentally, its courier services segment's profit before tax (PBT) declined 38% y-o-y to RM2.14 million from RM3.44 million, though revenue grew 13% to RM82.56 million from RM72.78 million.

Its logistics services, meanwhile, fell into the red with a loss before tax (LBT) of RM1.32 million versus a PBT of RM1.39 million PBT last year, due to expenses incurred for warehouse expansion and maintenance, the supply chain disruption mentioned, and the MFRS 16 effect. Segmental revenue grew 10% y-o-y to RM5.61 million from RM5.11 million.

As for its small property investment segment, that recorded a wider LBT of RM677,000 compared with RM570,000 previously, mainly due to expenses incurred for property maintenance, and the fact that most of the facilities are for internal use.

For the cumulative nine months ended March 31, GDeX's net profit sank 52% y-o-y to RM10.84 million from RM22.59 million, though revenue rose 10% to RM258.68 million from RM235.29 million.

The group said its 44.5%-owned PT SAP Express in Indonesia has delivered commendable results for the quarter under review, buoyed by higher delivery volume for hygiene products.

“However, the Group’s 50%-owned Netco in Vietnam had a slow start for the year, due to the long Lunar New Year break and the Vietnamese Government took earlier precautionary measures since January 2020 to contain the spread of Covid-19. Nonetheless, Vietnam's domestic economic activities have reopened since end-April 2020 and volume has been recovering.

"The group expects to see positive volume growth coming from digital platforms in all segments, including B2B, B2C (business-to-consumers) and C2C (consumers-to-consumers). Going forward, the group needs to adjust to the evolving business environment,” it added.

GDex shares closed 20.27% or 7.5 sen higher at 44.5 sen today, valuing it at some RM2.51 billion. The stock is up over 60% from a year ago.