Profit margin of a company varies depending on their business segment, some may be high, and some may be low. However, why is profit margin important when we are investing a company?

First, we should talk about how to calculate profit margin, it is to take its net profit and divide by revenue. As an example, Company A earned RM1 million of revenue but its net profit is only RM50k, which makes their profit margin only 5% (RM50,000 / RM1,000,000). By only having 5% of profit margin, meaning that Company A only earn RM5 for every RM100 that is produced, and it is considered to be relatively low.

Furthermore, when you have low profit margin, a slight increase in material cost, or higher administration cost may cause you to earn lesser. Take Company A as an example again, if the company is earning RM50k because oil price is low, then it will earn lesser when oil price rebounded, probably will only earn around RM40k, which make their profit margin even lower. In worst case scenario, Company A will even be in the red when all other expenses increased, causing them to lose money.

On the other hand, company with high profit margin seemingly to have a protective gear. Let say Company B have 30% profit margin, which is relatively normal for technology or precision engineering companies. Even if all the material cost and administrative cost increase, they margin will probably dropped to 20%, but it is still high, considering the company is making RM20 for every RM100 sales.

Some real life examples are given. JFTECH and UCHITEC has relatively high profit margin because of their business segment, where their businesses are precision engineering and manufacturing of coffee machine, respectively. On the other hand, JCY and VS has lower profit margin because their businesses are HDD base manufacturing and EMS, respectively.

In short, we can see that companies that do more precise stuff and manufacturing more complicated item will tend to earn more, since they will have to pay extra care on their product. On the other hand, companies will earn lesser when they are only assembly items, or manufacture components that does not require extra care. All in all, companies with higher profit margin can be considered to have an extra shield on their businesses.

一家公司的净利润率会因为不同的生意模式而改变。但是，为什么净利润率会在我们投资的时候成为一个重要的考量呢？

首先，我们要先明白如何计算净利润率，我们要先拿它们的净利润除于总营业额。举例，A公司有一百万令吉的营业额，但是净利润只有五万令吉，那它的净利润率就只有5%。那只有5%的净利润率意味着公司在每一百块的营业额里面只有五块是进账的，所以相对来说比较低。

除此以外，当一家公司有比较低的净利润率时，如果原料或者行政开销增加时，公司会赚的更少。我们再拿A公司做例子，如果公司现在赚五万令吉是因为低油价，那么油价回弹的时候公司会赚的更少，大约四万令吉左右。而且最糟糕的情况是公司还能因为这些开销的增加造成亏损。

另一方面，拥有高净利润率的公司就犹如穿上了一层保护服一样。我们举例B公司有30%的净利润率，其实30%在科技股以及精密零件行业来说是非常正常的，那么就算他们的原料和行政开销增加，他们的净利润率可能跌到20%，但其实每RM100就赚RM20还是相当的高。

我们来看一些真实例子，JFTECH和UCHITEC都有非常高的净利润率，因为他们的行业分别是精密零件加工和生产咖啡机。另一方面，JCY和VS就有比较低的净利润率因为它们的行业分别是生产硬盘的底盘和电子组装。

总结，我们可以看到当一家公司的生意是关于精密零件或者生产复杂的机器时，净利润率会比较高；而只是负责组装或者生产比较普通的东西时，赚幅就会比较低。总的来说，高净利润率的公司可以被说成是有盾牌的公司，比较耐。

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