Grand Venture Tech H1 after-tax profit halves to S$1.52m

MANUFACTURING service provider Grand Venture Technology, which made its Catalist debut in January this year, reported after-tax profit of S$1.52 million for the half-year ended June 30, down 47 per cent from S$3.96 million in the year-ago period.

But Grand Venture noted that in this first half of the year, it incurred non-recurring expenses of S$805,000 related to enhancing its capabilities, and listing compliance expenses of S$187,000.

Revenue for the first-half fell 17 per cent to S$18.1 million, down from S$21.8 million. This was due to a 43.8 per cent fall in semiconductor revenue to S$9.72 million. Sales from Grand Venture's "life sciences, electronics, and others" business segment rose 83.1 per cent to S$8.35 million.

Earnings per share for the first-half were 0.67 Singapore cent, compared with 1.54 Singapore cents for the year-ago period. No dividend was declared "as the group wishes to reserve its cash resources for business growth".

Grand Venture said that despite the softer demand in semiconductors, it remains optimistic about the long-term prospects of the industry's future growth, adding: "The group is making concerted efforts to navigate the current market dynamics to stay ahead of the competition, and also expects to further benefit from its diversification strategy by reaching out to new customers in new sectors."

Grand Venture shares closed unchanged at 21.5 Singapore cents on Wednesday before the results release.