KUALA LUMPUR (Mar 9): Unisem (M) Bhd expects to post double-digit revenue and net profit growth in anticipation the US economic recovery will lead to better semiconductor demand.

The Edge Malaysia business and investment weekly (Edge Weekly) in its latest March 9-15 issue quoted Unisem (fundamental: 1.25; valuation: 0.6) group managing director John Chia Sin Tet as saying that growth should go on for "quite a while more" due to the US recovery.
 
"The US economic recovery looks real this time...in fact we had braced ourselves for a slowdown (in sales) in the fourth quarter as that is seasonal, but surprisingly, it didn't happen.

"There is much better earnings visibility for the next few quarters, so our top line and bottom line will grow fairly signifcant this year," Chia told Edge Weekly.

In the previous financial year ended December 31, 2014, Unisem posted a net profit of RM68.42 million versus a net loss of RM105.37 million. Revenue rose to RM1.04 billion from RM990.55 million.

Today, Unisem shares rose as much as three sen or 1.4% to RM2.13 before paring gains to settle at RM2.11 at 12:30pm.

At the latest share price, Unisem had a market value of RM1.42 billion. For comparison, the FBM KLCI fell 17.96 points or 1% to settle at 1,789.

Unisem shares had risen 19% this year, outperforming the KLCI's 2% rise.

(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.)