KUALA LUMPUR (April 25): Texchem Resources Bhd’s net profit for the first quarter ended March 31, 2022 (1QFY22) almost doubled or was 97.18% higher to RM13.08 million from RM6.63 million in the same period last year mainly on stronger contribution from its food and restaurant divisions.

Revenue rose 15.28% to RM307.49 million from RM266.74 million, as its restaurant's ops saw a 23% jump in topline to RM71.5 million following the resumption of economic activities and as social activities gained traction, which boosted sales, its bourse filing on Monday (April 25) showed.

Notably, this division's profit before tax (PBT) soared 94.3% to RM6.2 million, chiefly driven by higher operational efficiency and healthier cost structure at its Sushi King operations, Texchem said, as various rationalisation initiatives implemented continue to bear fruit.

Texchem’s food division, meanwhile, saw revenue jump 105.3% to RM36.8 million from RM17.9 million earlier, amid a better sales mix and favourable foreign exchange movement. The division recorded a PBT of RM5.2 million, as opposed to a loss before tax of RM1 million previously.

Its industrial division also registered a 22.4% PBT boost to RM4.3 million, thanks to efforts to increase sales of products with better margin, though revenue slipped to RM131.7 million from RM135.8 million.

Only its polymer engineering division saw a decline in PBT, with a 16.4% drop to RM4.3 million, despite a 23.6% rise in revenue to RM66.3 million from RM53.6 million.

In a statement, Texchem executive chairman Tan Sri Fumihiko Konishi said the group is reaping the benefits of the transformation strategies it implemented that focused on cost optimisation as well as expansion into higher margin and value-added business streams.

Looking ahead, he said TexChem’s focus remains on the execution of its growth strategies across all core business divisions.

"For the industrial division, our plan is to transform into a specialty chemicals distribution player. While for our polymer engineering division, we will ride on the growth and recovery of the key industries we serve which include data storage and memory, semiconductor and medical/life sciences.

“At our restaurant division, we will continue to build on the strong foundation of Sushi King, strengthening brand equity through more targeted marketing initiatives and leveraging on its over 850,000 strong loyalty programme member base. Lastly, for our food division, the plan is to grow new markets and high value products to enhance profitability,” he said.

While mindful of challenges such as supply chain disruptions, rising raw materials cost and inflation, Texchem is positive on its outlook as the reopening of Malaysia’s borders and transition to endemicity augur well for the group, especially for its restaurant division, he added.

Texchem’s shares closed 12 sen or 4.3% lower at RM2.67 on Monday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM331.34 million.