Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (May 28): Latitude Tree Holdings Bhd’s net profit jumped 53% on-year to RM19.51 million for the third quarter ended March 31, 2015 (3QFY15) from RM12.75 million a year ago due to higher unrealised foreign exchange (forex) gain and lower finance costs.

The furniture maker’s earnings per share ballooned to 20.07 sen per share during the quarter under review from 13.12 sen per share.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Latitude Tree (fundamental: 2.5; valuation: 1.8) posted a nearly 13% increase in revenue to RM165.63 million in 3QFY15 compared to RM146.77 million in the previous corresponding quarter.

For the nine-month period ended March 31, its net profit climbed 37% to RM65.38 million, or 65.38 sen per share, compared with RM47.66 million or 47.66 sen per share in the previous corresponding period. Its revenue grew 4.36% to RM530.45 million compared to RM508.27 million.

Its pre-tax profit increased 12.3% to RM69.2 million from RM61.6 million in the corresponding period last year.

In notes accompanying its results, the company said the increase in pre-tax profit was mainly due to the higher unrealised foreign exchange gain arising from translation of monetary assets and liabilities denominated in foreign currencies at the reporting date and lower finance costs, the notes read.

However, its gross profit was marginally lower at RM88.1 million against RM89.6 million in the previous corresponding quarter for the nine months ended March 31.

The company attributed this to increase in material cost ranging from 2% to 10% and higher labour costs due to upward revision of national minimum wages in Vietnam.

Latitude Tree said in view of the uncertainty of the global economy, it will continue to take a cautious approach in its business strategy especially in managing rising labour costs.

“Continuous efforts will also be taken to strengthen its operations in order to improve productivity and to maximise its profit margin,” the note read. The company is confident that it will continue to remain profitable for the financial year ending June 30, 2015.

Latitude Tree share price gained six sen to close at RM6.43 today, with a market capitalisation of RM619.21 million.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)

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