KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 21): Vitrox Corporation Bhd saw its net profit for the third quarter ended Sept 30, 2021 (3QFY21) increased by 42% to RM42.21 million from RM29.71 million in the previous year. 

The rise in net profit came on the back of a 36% increase in 3QFY21 revenue, which grew to RM168.29 million compared to RM123.75 million a year ago. 

The group attributed the higher revenue to an increase in sales of its machine vision system (MVS) and automated board inspection (ABI) products, which led to the higher net profits recorded by the group.   

For the nine-month period ended Sept 30, 2021 (9MFY21), net profit surged 67.63% to RM123.55 million from RM73.7 million a year ago. Similarly, revenue rose 60% to RM494.37 million. 

“The favourable market condition and well market acceptance of new product introduction led to stronger demand for both MVS and ABI products, and contributed to overall increase in revenue,” said the group in a statement on Thursday. 

As at Sept 30, 2021, Vitrox has a cash balance of RM217.23 million, after deducting RM36.87 million in secured term loans. 

Going forward, the group said it will continue to strengthen its operational efficiencies and elevate its focus on the material sourcing process, apart from making effort to protect the safety and health of employees. 

This, it noted, is to fulfil the delivery commitments to its customers based on the current book to bill visibility. 

“With continuous new product innovation and new market expansion, the group is well positioned to capture the robust demand in 5G, electric vehicles (EVs), computing and artificial intelligence (AI) sectors. 

“The board is cautiously optimistic on the business prospect for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2021,” said Vitrox.   

Since the beginning of the year, Vitrox has gained 39.45%, with the share price increasing from RM14.50 on Jan 4, 2021 to close at RM20.22 on Thursday (Oct 21). This valued the company at RM9.55 billion.