Earnings of electronics components distributor Excelpoint Technologies soared by some 1841.5% to US$8.29 million ($11.1 million) in 2HFY2020 ended December from US$427,000 in the previous year.
On a fully diluted basis, this translates to earnings per share of 6.92 US cents in 2HFY2020, versus 0.36 US cents in 2HFY2019.
This comes as revenue for the second half of 2020 was up 18.3% to US$598.7 million, from US$506.1 million in the previous year, following higher sales from its business units in Singapore and Hong Kong.
For the full-year, revenue inched by 13.5% to US$1.1 million, from US$977,000 also due to higher sales in Singapore and Hong Kong.
This in turn drove the company's gross profit margin up by 11.3% to US$60.3 million.
With a 77% contribution, the highest income came from Hong Kong and China at S$854.5 million. Southeast Asia – which includes Singapore – contributed US$164.8 million, or 15.1% of income.
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Meanwhile 3.2% or US$35,479 came from India while the remaining US$50,876 or 4.6% was from the other markets that Excelpoint operates in.
The group also benefited from an increase in other income to US$1.5 million in FY2020, mainly due to the government grants recognised in the year.
In this time, costs such as sales and distribution was stable, while its general and administrative expenses were up by 11.7% to US$16.4 million, due to higher staff costs.
The group had also benefitted from a 47.4% decrease in interest expenses to US$2.9million, due to lower interest rates.
Overall, Excelpoint's earnings was up by 546.6% to US$10.3 million in FY2020, up from US$1.60 million in FY2019.
Earnings per share for the year came in at 8.63 US cents in FY2020 compared to 1.34 US cents in the year before.
Albert Phuay, chairman and CEO of Excelpoint is happy that the group has delivered a good set of results for 2020, despite the challenges that came with the pandemic.
Going forward, he says that China remains an important market for the group given its strong positioning as a manufacturing powerhouse.
Phuay also expects to see an increase in demand for semiconductor chips and solutions across Excelpoint’s key segments in line with the global shift towards a more digital lifestyle.
Aside from this, he says the group will continue to strengthen its value-add and business strategies according to evolving global needs. One way it hopes to do this is through its recently set up PlanetSpark Innovation Centre.
“The solutions developed by the innovation centre alongside our local start-ups, as well as Excelpoint’s core capabilities in the sensors and communications segments, will position us well to harness opportunities in the Artificial Intelligence and Internet of Things space,” adds Phuay.
See: Excelpoint Technology's subsidiary launches innovation centre to boost new opportunities in AIoT
With cash and cash equivalents of US$39.2 million at end FY2020, up from US$14.5 million in the previous year, Excelpoint seems well buttressed to see through its plans.
The group has also declared a first and final dividend of 3 US cents per share for FY2020. By comparison, no dividend had been paid out in FY2019.
Shares of Excelpoint closed up a cent or 2.02% at 50.5 cents on Feb 8, prior to its results announcement.
