KUALA LUMPUR (May 16): Foundpac Group Bhd’s net profit slipped 25.02% to RM2.01 million for the third quarter ended March 31, 2023 (3QFY2023), compared with RM2.69 million posted a year ago, attributed to the reduction in revenue from both its precision engineering and the accessory cables and connectors segments.

Earnings per share declined to 0.37 sen for 3QFY2023, from 0.50 sen in 3QFY2022. A dividend of one sen per share was declared, with an ex-date of June 7, 2023. The dividend is to be paid on June 26, 2023.

The group’s revenue dropped 9.64% to RM15.78 million in 3QFY2023 from RM17.46 million in 3QFY2022, due to softening demand in the precision engineering sector and deferment of deliveries in the semiconductor market.

“With the global semiconductor sales moving on a downward trend since August 2022, the group is also seeing [a] softening in demand with some customers deferring their orders. The escalation of the direct costs is also taking a hit on the margins.

“In line with the unfavourable macro-economic factors underpinning the industry, the group expects to end the current financial year with an average performance. In the meantime, the group continues to focus on strengthening its business operations and fundamentals.” Foundpac commented in their bourse filling on Tuesday (May 16).

However, looking at the cumulative period, Foundpac saw an increase in revenue of 8.74% to RM52.49 million for the nine-month period ended March 31, 2023 (9MFY2023) from RM48.27 million in 9MFY2022 because of the growth in revenues in both the automation and precision engineering sectors.

On a quarter-on-quarter basis, Foundpac’s 3QFY2023 revenue slipped 0.89% to RM15.78 million, from RM15.92 million in the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2022. However, its pretax profit of RM2.56 million was 26.81% higher, compared with the preceding quarter.

“This was mainly due to the higher interest and fund distribution income from the precision engineering segment in the current quarter.” the group elaborated.

As of writing, Foundpac’s share price went up half a sen or 1.32% to 38.5 sen on Tuesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM210.10 million.