PETALING JAYA: Unisem (M) Bhd and Globetronics Technology Bhd have registered strong growth in the first quarter ended March 31 on strong demand for their products from overseas.

Consumer hunger for new gadgets and the explosive growth of the Internet of Things have boosted revenues and profits across the global electronics supply chain.

Unisem’s net profit expanded 29.4% to RM44.9mil in the first quarter from a year ago, while revenue increased 13.4% to RM360.25mil.

The company said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia that the increase in earnings was due to better profit margins, higher interest income and lower interest expense.

The rise in revenue was mainly attributed to higher average selling prices, coupled with a favourable currency exchange rate.

Unisem’s US and Asia segments recorded increases in revenue of 23.4% and 10.1% respectively, while revenue in its Europe segment decreased by 1.6% on a year-on-year basis.

The company’s US, Europe and Asia segments registered revenues of RM151.34mil, RM50.39mil and RM158.52mil in the first quarter respectively.

Moving forward, the company is optimistic of posting a positive performance in the 2018 financial year.

“The directors expect the performance of the group to remain satisfactory till the end of the financial year,” said Unisem.

Meanwhile, sensor maker Globetronics Technology Bhd also reported higher earnings in its first quarter despite lower sales.

“The group expects to see improvement in business and volume loading in the next quarter,” it said in a separate filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

“The mass production of new products will enable the group to register strong recovery and product loading in the second half of the financial year,” it added.

For the quarter ended March 31, Globetronics reported a net profit of RM4.67mil on a revenue of RM49.8mil.

The improvement in earnings was largely due to lower foreign-exchange losses during the quarter.

The lower revenue achieved in the period was mainly due to a reduction in end-customer demand.

“The group will continue to focus on escalating the value chain and riding on the research and development initiatives in new product design and development with our key customer,” it said.

This initiative, it said, is expected to result in the manufacturing of new products this year.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2017/04/26/chip-companies-post-strong-quarterly-earnings/