SINGAPORE (Oct 27): Multi-Chem posts a 70% drop in earnings to $765,000 for the 3Q ended September, from $2.6 million a year ago.
This was mainly due a net foreign exchange loss of $811,000 in 3Q17, compared to a net foreign exchange gain of $918,000 a year ago, on the back of a continued depreciation of the US dollar against the Singapore dollar and other local currencies.
Gross profit fell by 5% to $13.8 million, mainly due to a drop in gross profit margin by 1.0 percentage point to 14.7% in 3Q17.
Revenue rose 2% to $93.7 million in 3Q17, from $92.1 million a year ago.
Multi-Chem’s IT division, which accounts for 97% of group revenue, reported a 6.8% increase in sales to $90.9 million in 3Q17 on the back of certain big deals closed during the period.
Revenue from its PCB division fell 60% to $2.8 million in 3Q17, mainly due to significantly reduced production capacity resulting from the disposal of 103 CNC drilling machines in China.
As at end September, cash and cash equivalents stood at $49.9 million.
In its near-term outlook, Multi-Chem says its IT business is expected to be affected by an uncertain global economic outlook.
However, it adds that the group is putting more effort into growing its IT business, and will continue to look out for opportunities for regional expansion.
Shares of Multi-Chem closed flat at 92 cents on Friday.
