BATTERY maker GP Industries : G20 0% posted a 55.1 per cent fall in net profit for the first half of FY2024, amid a decline in sales and the absence of one-off disposal gains it had recorded a year ago.

Net profit for the six months ended Sep 30 stood at S$8.9 million, down from S$19.8 million in the year-ago period. On a per-share basis, earnings were down to S$0.0184, from S$0.0409 previously.

The company declared an interim dividend of S$0.01 cent per share, unchanged from the year-ago period.

The company’s revenue fell 5.3 per cent in the first half to S$564.2 million, with revenue of its core batteries business falling 5.5 per cent to S$438.9 million.

Sales of primary batteries and rechargeable batteries decreased by 3.8 per cent and 14.6 per cent, respectively.

Sales to Asia and Europe decreased, even as sales to the Americas increased slightly.

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KEF GP Group, the subsidiary involved in the electronics and acoustics business, similarly booked a 4.3 per cent decline in revenue to S$125.3 million, with lower sales of KEF-branded speaker products.

The company’s other operating income for H1, meanwhile, decreased by 68.7 per cent to S$12.8 million.

A year earlier, it had recorded one-off gains on a disposal of S$12.4 million for its stake in an indirectly held associate, STL Technology, and S$10.6 million for the sale of its subsidiary, Huizhou Modern Battery.

It did not have such one-off disposal gains in the latest half-year.

Looking ahead, GP Industries expects high interest rates to significantly increase its finance costs. It may explore other sources of financing for future expansion.

It added: “Disruption to global shipping services is improving, but shortages of electronics components are expected to continue posing challenges to the group in optimising its inventory level and in reducing its working capital requirements for fulfilling its delivery commitments.”

On the upside, the recent strengthening of the US dollar against the yuan may reduce some cost pressure and provide more flexibility for the company to price its products and optimise production capacity.

GP Industries has also implemented operational efficiency enhancement and expense control measures.

Administrative expenses in H1 fell by 11.8 per cent to S$70.9 million, thanks to lower staff costs with a headcount reduction, salary reduction for senior management and lower rental expenses.

The company is hopeful that demand for KEF consumer speakers will gradually strengthen, while demand for Celestion professional speaker drivers will benefit from more public performance events.

GP Industries shares ended Tuesday (Nov 14) flat at S$0.635.