KUALA LUMPUR (July 29): Shares in Unisem (M) Bhd rose more than 5% in early trade on Friday (July 29) after its net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2022 (2QFY22) surged 276.7% to RM205.86 million, from RM54.64 million a year earlier, on the back of higher average selling prices (ASPs), coupled with favourable US dollar-ringgit exchange rates.
At 9.39am, Unisem was up 5.43% or 15 sen at RM2.91, with 945,400 shares done. The stock earlier rose to a high of RM2.94.
In a bourse filing on Thursday, Unisem said its revenue for the latest quarter rose 15.4% to RM464.06 million, from RM402.23 million a year ago.
Earnings per share jumped to 12.76 sen from 3.4 sen.
The company declared an interim dividend of two sen per share, to be paid on Aug 25.
For the first half ended June 30, 2022 (1HFY22), Unisem’s net profit jumped 156.4% to RM256.55 million, versus RM100.05 million the year before, on the back of a 14.5% increase in revenue to RM888.51 million from RM776.17 million.
On its prospects, Unisem said despite the economic and geopolitical uncertainties, interest rate concerns and global supply chain disruption, the outlook for the group remains positive.
“The directors expect the performance of the group to be satisfactory for the next financial quarter,” it said.
Meanwhile, CGS-CIMB Research said Unisem’s 1HFY22 core net profit was above expectations at 52%/51% of the house/consensus forecasts due to higher-than-expected ASPs and margin delivery in 2QFY22.
In a note on Thursday, the research house said it sees a stronger 2HFY22, driven by production recovery in Ipoh, higher ASPs, and favourable foreign exchange movements. It raised its FY22-24 earnings per share forecasts by 2%-5%.
“We reiterate 'add', with a higher target price of RM3.90, still based on 22 times calendar year 2023 price-earnings, “ it said.