Global Invacom H1 earnings tumble 78.2% to US$345,000

GLOBAL Invacom, which provides satellite communications equipment and electronics, saw its net profit for the half year ended June 30, 2020 slump 78.2 per cent to US$345,000, from US$1.6 million a year ago.

This comes as the Covid-19 pandemic resulted in reduced orders. Production facilities worldwide were also affected, as working practices had to be adapted to comply with regional variations on social distancing and best practices, the mainboard-listed firm said on Thursday.

Earnings per share stood at 0.13 US cent for the half year, down from 0.58 US cent a year ago.

Revenue for H1 2020 fell 26.6 per cent to S$52.8 million, from S$71.9 million last year.

Geographically, lower demand in America and Europe was marginally offset by increased demand across Asia. The US, which remains a significant market for the group, continues to be "severely impacted by Covid‐19", translating to a fall in anticipated orders, Global Invacom said.

No dividend was declared for the half year, unchanged from the year-ago period.

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While the pandemic has affected sales and profit growth, the company noted that the majority of its factories remained operational, with office and research and development staff transitioning to remote working.

Looking ahead, executive chairman Tony Taylor said the group remains "well placed to return to growth as the market emerges from lockdown".

As at 11.01am on Thursday, shares in Global Invacom were trading at 11.1 Singapore cents, up 0.1 cent or 0.9 per cent.