Venture's H1 net profit up 7.6% to S$140.4m on robust demand

TECHNOLOGY solutions provider Venture Corp's net profit rose 7.6 per cent to S$140.4 million for the half-year ended June as customer demand remained strong, the company announced on Friday after the market close.

It proposed an interim dividend of S$0.25 per share, unchanged from last year's interim dividend, to be paid on Sept 17.

Its H1 revenue rose 4.9 per cent to S$1.43 billion as customer orders remained robust. In Q2, the company registered an 8.6 per cent quarter-on-quarter growth in revenue to S$745.5 million. Its Q2 net profit came in at S$75.1 million, up 14.9 per cent per cent quarter-on-quarter.

Venture's net margin stood at 10.1 per cent for Q2 and 9.8 per cent for H1. The latter marks an improvement of 0.2 percentage points from a year earlier.

Venture said that differentiating business models led to the margin improvement, while setting up taskforces with global partners, business associations and government authorities also helped mitigate the impact of the pandemic. It is in a net cash position of S$922.2 million as at end-June.

The company's outlook for the next 12 months is "ebullient". In the life science technology and genomics segment, it sees demand for innovative products growing. Pointing to emerging trends in next-generation sequencing and diagnostics, Venture said that its R&D labs and operations are deeply involved in developing "breakthrough" products.

"An example is for an emerging life science technology group that has established an industry-leading position in single cell analysis and continues to expand its expertise to new adjacent domains through M&As," it added.

It also continues to work with companies whose products are still highly sought after in the pandemic. Venture is co-developing solutions with other "erstwhile" partners, to expand its footprint in these domains.

In the lifestyle consumer electronics cluster, Venture is supporting the launch of a new platform of next-generation devices, expected in the second half of this year.

Potential growth areas for Venture include liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry, test and measurement instrumentation, networking and communications, advanced industrials and semiconductor-related equipment.

Addressing the component shortage in the industry, Venture said that it has taken steps to improve access to raw materials and assurance of supply. It has also redesigned parts and components to overcome shortages.

In Malaysia, it has commenced vaccination programmes at its sites, and aims to have more than 80 per cent of its Malaysia-based employees receive their first dose by Q3 this year.

"Despite the Extended Movement Control Order in Malaysia, Venture continues to operate as an essential economic sector. Although certain restrictions from the EMCO remain in place, the group has been improving its operational efficiencies through tactical strategies to support order fulfilment," it said.

Shares of Venture closed at S$19.40 on Friday, up 0.31 per cent.