KUALA LUMPUR (Apr 28): Semiconductor devices manufacturer Unisem (M) Bhd’s net profit for the first financial quarter ended Mar 31, 2015 (1QFY15) has almost tripled (up 154%) to RM23.54 million from RM9.27 million a year ago, on improved profit margin, which brought its earnings per share (EPS) to 3.49 sen from 1.37 sen.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Unisem (fundamental: 1.25; valuation: 0.6) said the improvements were mainly due to better gross profit margin arising from change in product mix and improved utilisation rates.

The group’s revenue for the quarter under review came in at RM280.06 million, up 22.81% from RM228.05 million in 1QFY14, which Unisem attributed to higher demand for its products and services.

The group said its Asia segment recorded an increase in revenue while there was a decline in revenue in its USA segment, due to the decision to scale down its operations and cease all production by end March 2015.

“The directors expect the performance of the group to continue to improve for the second quarter till the end of the financial year with increasing demand seen for our products and services in the smartphone and automotive market segments,” Unisem said on its prospects.

Unisem shares closed six sen or 2.41% lower at RM2.43 per share today, with 1.95 million shares done, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.68 billion.

The counter has been trending upward since the beginning of this year; its closing price today is 38.86% higher from the RM1.75 it saw on Jan 2.

(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.)