KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 23): ACE-Market listed QES Group Bhd recorded a 125% jump in net profit for the fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2021 (4QFY21), to RM4.42 million from RM1.97 million a year ago on higher revenue and gross profit from the distribution division.

Revenue for the quarter under review climbed 58% to RM64.26 million compared with RM40.6 million in the same quarter last year.

QES declared a final dividend of 0.4 sen per share to be paid on March 31, 2022.

In an exchange filing, the group attributed the increase in sales and deliveries from the distribution business to continued strong global demand in the semiconductor, automotive, and electrical and electronics industries.

For the full year ended Dec 31, the group's cumulative net profit rose 119% to RM18.98 million from RM8.66 million in the previous year. Cumulative revenue for the full year increased 44% to RM222.84 million from RM155.22 million.

QES said its cash flow and balance sheet remained solid, with cash and cash equivalents at RM79.4 million. “The gross gearing ratio remained at a healthy 0.2 times, an improvement compared with 4QFY20,” it said in a separate statement.

QES managing director and president Chew Ne Weng said the group is poised to continue its strong performance in 2022, coupled with an increased vaccination rate and a continued positive outlook for the global semiconductor market, as well as an easing of supply chain challenges.

“Currently our manufacturing and distribution are operating at full capacity to fulfil the strong backlog of orders from the semiconductor customers. Notably, renovation of our new factory in Shah Alam is on track and almost completed. We look forward to increasing our overall factory space and subsequently increasing manufacturing capacity,” he said.

Moving forward, QES intends to put more emphasis on ESG principles for long-term value creation, said Chew.

“Our investment in the Batu Kawan Industrial Park in Penang will provide job opportunities to 100 engineers and technicians within three years from operations. Lastly, with EV, 5G, IoT, Cloud, Edge Computing and AI looking set to flourish, we expect demand for our products and services to be trending upwards over the next five years,” he added.

Through its subsidiaries, QES is principally involved in the manufacturing, distribution and provision of engineering services for inspection, test, measuring, analytical and automated handling equipment.

QES shares closed up one sen or 2% at 51 sen, with a market capitalisation of RM421.4 million.