Ban Leong Technologies net profit surges by 64.9% on pandemic-driven demand for IT products

BAN Leong Technologies posted a 64.9 per cent rise in net profit to S$3.9 million for the half year ended Sep 30, 2021, from S$2.3 million a year ago.

This was mainly due to a 29.8 per cent increase in revenue to S$51.5 million from its information technology (IT) accessories segment, while the multimedia segment and storage segments grew 19.2 per cent and 177.6 per cent to S$56.0 million and S$1.3 million respectively.

The tech distributor's gross profit increased by 40.9 per cent to S$11.1 million and attributed this to consumers' willingness to pay more for better quality products to be more productive or have a better experience both at work and at home.

Earnings per share stood at 3.39 Singapore cents for the half-year, up from 2.05 Singapore cents a year ago.

Revenue for the half-year rose by 24.9 per cent to S$108.8 million, from S$87.1 million from the previous year.

An interim dividend of S$0.0125 was declared for the half-year, which will be paid to shareholders on Dec 10 after books closure on Nov 29, 5pm. No dividend was declared in the same period last year.

In the coming months, Ban Leong expects changes caused by the pandemic to the working environment and overall business activities to drive demand for IT and consumer electronics products.

"With more countries currently taking a different approach in dealing with the pandemic, there may be changes in consumer spending behaviour. As such, while we have generated positive growth, we will continue to adopt a prudent approach in maintaining a good cash flow to support our business activities," the company said.

Shares in Ban Leong closed flat at S$0.37 on Monday (Nov 8), before financial results were released.