This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on November 1, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: ACE Market-listed on-site and off-site enterprise data management and data storage solutions firm Kronologi Asia Bhd aims to grow its customer base by at least 40% to 50% year-on-year (y-o-y).

Kronologi chief executive officer (CEO) and executive director Edmond Tay Nam Hiong said the group, which has a diversified customer base of 650 clients, is banking on its services segment to propel this next stage of growth, as it observes growing interests in technology adoption, especially among smaller-scale businesses.

Tay said the group plans to acquire more new customers through seeding programmes, which allow them to test out the services offered before onboarding, besides retaining customers with new and innovative solutions.

“We are trying to sell more within our [existing] customers and acquire more customers through seeding programmes … so we will see an upward trend in customers for sure as we go.

“In terms of percentage, a 40-50% y-o-y growth in customer base is quite realistic as more adopt [the] cloud [technology] as a service. Hence, it is about us going out and getting those customers,” he told reporters on the sidelines of a corporate briefing here yesterday.

Tay said next year, Kronologi also plans to roll out new solutions related to artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of things (IoT) across all markets it is servicing.

“AI and the IoT are the two key areas that we want to pursue next year … because these new forms of technology are taking shape very quickly.

“The key intent is to basically try to sell more [of these new] services to our existing customer base,” he added.

Kronologi’s customers span across Malaysia, Singapore, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Taiwan, and India, among other Asian countries.

Its diversified customer base comprises airports, airlines, port operators, food and beverage companies, banks, financial institutions, stock exchanges, smart cities, government agencies and telecommunications, as well as media and broadcasting companies.

The group recently announced a 35% jump in net profit to RM6.78 million for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2019 (3QFY19), from RM5.01 million for the year-ago quarter, while revenue almost doubled to RM81.66 million from RM41.98 million.

Kronologi attributed its improved earnings to a combination of higher contribution from its Indian operations, besides its recent acquisition of Sandz Solutions (Singapore) Pte Ltd, which provides information technology infrastructure solution services in the Philippines through Sandz Solutions Philippines Inc.

The 3Q improvement raises the group’s cumulative nine-month net profit by 35% y-o-y to RM15.53 million from RM11.51 million, while revenue climbed 37% to RM166.23 million from RM121.17 million — surpassing its record high full-year revenue of RM163.07 million for FY18.

Its share price closed at a 14-month peak of 75.5 sen yesterday, up 7.5 sen or 11% after 44.88 million shares were traded, valuing the group at RM369.41 million. The stock has climbed over 27% in the past one year.