This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on February 22, 2016.

Notion Vtec Bhd (-ve)

Shares of Notion VTec (Fundamental: 1.15/3, Valuation: 0.9/3) rose 4.8% to an intraday high of 44 sen on Friday, after announcing its results for the first financial quarter ended Dec  31, 2015 (1QFY16). The stock closed down 2.38% at 41 sen.

For 1QFY16, Notion VTec recorded a net profit of RM3.11 million compared with a net loss of RM5.25 million a year ago. Revenue came in 4.8% higher at RM61.05 million from RM58.25 million in 1QFY15. It also benefited from the write back of provision for mark-to-market losses of US dollar foreign exchange hedging contracts amounting to RM8.1 million.

The company is mainly involved in manufacturing high volume precision components and tools.

In FY15, its product mix was 45% from hard disk drives, 28% from camera and 27% from automotive.

Going forward, the company is cautiously optimistic of its prospects, citing concerns on rising labour costs, exchange rate volatility and further economic and financial market uncertainties.